German development assistance to support water sector

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Zeina Toukan and Director of the KfW Development Bank Office in Jordan Matthias Schmidt-Rosen have signed two financing agreements provided by the German government through the bank to contribute to supporting the needs of the water and sanitation sector.

Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abul Saud and the German ambassador to Amman attended the signing ceremony, according to a statement for The Jordan Times.

The first agreement includes a grant of 21.5 million euros from the German government through the KfW Development Bank to finance the third phase of the Results-Based Financing in the Water Sector Programme.

The programme aims to contribute to improving the cost-effective operation and maintenance of water supplies and sanitation infrastructure in the northern governorates by supporting the operation of several wastewater plants at the Yarmouk Water Company and the pipeline carrying treated water from these plants, in addition to hydropower plants. 

The second agreement is an additional grant of 15 million euros from the German government through the same bank to contribute to financing the national water carrier project “Aqaba-Amman water desalination & conveyance.” 

This financing is also part of a comprehensive initiative with other donors, and these grants come in line with the priorities of the water sector in the Kingdom within the Economic Modernisation Vision, which aims to provide sustainable water sources and reduce water loss, in addition to preserving groundwater from pollution and improving the infrastructure of sanitation services.

Abul Saud stated that the two grants provided by the KfW Development Bank contributed to supporting the water sector and helping it overcome the challenges facing this sector. 

He expressed appreciation for the German side’s support for the national water carrier project, which is considered one of the most important strategic projects for the Kingdom.

The German ambassador stressed that his country is aware of the size of the challenges facing Jordan, particularly in the water sector, and that Germany supports the Kingdom's efforts to overcome them, as this funding provided by the German government through the KfW Development Bank comes to complement the efforts and existing cooperation with the government in this sector.

The German government has already committed, during the Jordanian-German government talks on development cooperation, held in Berlin in May, to provide development assistance to the Kingdom of nearly 619 million euros as grants and concessional loans.

The assistance aims to finance priority development projects within the Economic Modernisation Vision Executive Programme, Public Sector Modernisation Road Map, and the Jordanian response plan to the Syrian crisis, as new projects will be announced separately upon signing their agreements after completing all procedures related to them, the statement said.