AMMAN — The Development and Employment Fund (DEF) has announced its JD31 million funding plan for 2014, which will provide more than 10,000 work opportunities, a 30 per cent increase compared to last year.
In a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Sunday, DEF Director General Abdullah Freij said the plan is part of the fund’s efforts to encourage citizens to establish small- and medium-sized projects in different sectors, with a focus on residents of remote governorates and poverty pockets.
Freij highlighted the fund’s priorities in funding schemes that meet the needs of local communities with competitive interest rates and grace periods for paying back the loans.
Stressing the need to encourage university graduates to start their own businesses instead of “waiting to be employed”, he noted that the Civil Service Bureau has opened a unit to encourage young people to head to the fund instead of waiting to get a job in the public sector.
Around 30 per cent of the loan beneficiaries are holders of bachelor’s or diploma degrees, according to the DEF director general.
Freij called on those interested in benefiting from the DEF’s financial services to head to its branches across the Kingdom to be able to establish income-generating projects in various sectors, according to the statement.
