Fakhoury leads team to Mafraq to raise awareness of gov’t financing tools

AMMAN — The government is spending JD79 million on development programmes in Mafraq in 2016, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury said on Tuesday.

Accompanied by a government team, Fakhoury briefed the local community and official representatives on the government’s measures to implement the Mafraq development programme, the ministry said in a statement.

As for the Syrian refugee crisis, the minister said that JD102 million was allocated to fund various sectors including the education, health, energy, water and sewage sectors through the Jordan Response Plan. 

The ministry has circulated the governorate development programmes to ministries and other government institutions to be taken as reference when preparing their budgets, he said. 

The projects being implemented in Mafraq include the establishment of a productive branch in cooperation with the Labour Ministry, worth JD990,000, Fakhoury said, as well as the provision of JD500,000 to be distributed as loans to unemployed graduates, in cooperation with the Development and Employment Fund (DEF). 

Essential finance has also been made available to municipalities to establish productive projects and improve incomes, he added.

To provide a suitable environment for the decentralisation project, the minister said that the development programmes at the governorate, some 80km northeast of Amman, represent a reference and a planning tool for the municipal, the executive and the governorate councils.

He noted that the government has increased the financial allocations for the national credit corporations for 2016-2018 to help create job opportunities that would contribute to improving citizens’ lives.

The ministry has coordinated with donors on the priorities in each governorate, Fakhoury said, noting that he accompanied a USAID delegation on a field visit to Mafraq to discuss local priorities and projects to finance. 

The government is addressing the low numbers of Jordanians employed in agriculture, construction and services, and plans to replace guest workers to increase the percentage of Jordanians in the workforce in these sectors to 25 per cent, according to the minister.  

An investment map has been presented in all governorates, including Mafraq, Fakhoury said, adding that feasibility studies were under way to identify the most important investment opportunities to create jobs for young people.

To boost the role of institutions funding medium and small enterprises, the government launched a programme worth JD25 million to boost self-employment through the DEF. 

During the meeting, the government team listened to citizens’ demands.

The ministerial team presented programmes available to citizens to help them establish enterprises to empower the local community and increase their incomes.

The session aimed to raise awareness of financial support available to small- and medium-sized enterprises from national credit corporations. 

Fakhoury said the government team had met with civil society commissions and financing funds, and briefed them on the government’s programmes and funding windows. 

He added that the government is willing to increase allocations according to the projects presented that focus on decreasing poverty and unemployment. 

The ministry’s local development programmes director, Mohammad Adaileh, gave a presentation on government loans, outlining target groups, funding limits, repayment period and interest rates, as well as the funding standards of each financial institution.

Mafraq Governor Ahmad Zu’bi, senators, council members, mayors, presidents of the local chambers of industry and representatives of local commissions, women and youth were joined by the secretaries general of ministries at the meeting.