Germany approves ‘historic’ grants to Kingdom

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury announced Monday that Germany has approved new and ‘unprecedented’ financial support to Jordan for 2016, worth 272.7 million euros.

The sum is the largest in the history of Germany’s support to the Kingdom in terms of the total amount.

The support provided between 2012 and 2015 amounted to 395.45 million euros.  

Germany’s historic support came as a result of Jordan’s “vital role as a model of comprehensive and evolutionary reform, and a stable, secure and peaceful country in the region, in addition to its efforts in hosting Syrian refugees”, a ministry statement said.

Fakhoury said that a large part of the aid will be directed to fund priority development projects and others listed in the Jordan Response Plan (JRP)  to the Syrian crisis for 2016-2018. 

The JRP is designed to support host communities and the education sector based on the Jordan Compact, which was adopted at the London donor conference last February and which details donors’ pledges to Jordan and the Kingdom’s commitments towards the Syrian refugees.

Part of the German funds, 146 million euros in grants and 56.7 million euros in technical support, will go to implement priority projects under the JRP, including the Water Supply and Sanitation in Host Communities, School Construction Programme and Energy Supply to host communities in addition to the Economic Opportunities plans. The Planning Ministry will be announcing each project upon the signing of the related grant agreement, the statement said.

Some 70 million euros will be provided as soft loans from the German Development Bank .  

Germany has also assisted Syrians through UN organisations, providing additional humanitarian relief funds worth 100 million euros as part of commitments made at the London donors conference and in line with the JRP.

The Jordanian-German talks on development cooperation for 2016 concluded late last week.

Planning Ministry’s Secretary General Saleh Kharabsheh headed the Jordanian delegation, which comprised the secretaries general of the ministries of labour, education and water.

At the meeting, both sides reviewed existing and potential areas for financial support through grants, soft loans and technical cooperation to meet developmental needs as well as support under the JRP and the Jordan Compact, based on Germany’s pledges at the London conference.

Moreover, the Jordan delegation met with Thomas Silberhorn, parliamentary state secretary to the minister for economic cooperation and development, during which both sides exchanged views on regional issues and the impact of the Syrian refugee influx on host countries and reviewed progress regarding the Jordan Compact.

The delegation also met with Stefan Mair, member of the Executive Board of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) as a follow up to the visit that BDI made to Jordan late February following the London conference. Discussions also covered potential cooperation in light of the recently adopted plan by the EU to simplify the rules of origin for made-in-Jordan products.