‘Germany to provide 193m euros in development aid to Jordan’

AMMAN — Jordan and Germany on Wednesday signed agreements on technical and financial assistance negotiated between the two countries in the past year worth 193 million euros (around JD155 million).

The amount, which includes soft loans, grants and technical assistance, is “an output of an extensive negotiations process of the Official Governmental Negotiations on Development Cooperation 2014 held between our two governments last October”, Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif said at the signing ceremony, according to a ministry statement.

The total assistance consists of direct grants worth 38 million euros and preferential loans valued at 155 million euros, according to the German embassy.

Large amounts of the aid will be allocated for the northern governorates which suffer heavily from the refugee crisis, an embassy statement said. 

“A significant part will finance the Aqib Pipeline which will provide water for almost 2 million people — corresponding to more than a third of the entire water production in northern Jordan,” the embassy said.

“We are also signing today the third phase of ‘Water Supply for Jordanian Communities Hosting Syrian Refugees-Aqib-Pipeline’ in an amount of 10 million euros to assist the water sector in Jordan to overcome the urgent needs in the northern governorates due to the influx of Syrian refugees,” Saif said.

In addition, assistance will be provided for building “a hydroelectric power station” below King Talal Dam and for supporting the Yarmouk Water Company, according to the embassy.

“On behalf of the German government, I would like to thank all Jordanian partners — especially the Jordanian government — for the excellent and trustful cooperation which characterises our bilateral relations. Germany appreciates the impressive effort of the Jordanian people and will continue to support Jordan,” the statement quoted German Ambassador Ralph Tarraf as saying at the signing ceremony.

For his part, Saif commended Germany’s support in the water sector.

“Germany has been a key and true partner in Jordan’s development process over the many years. Germany’s support to the water sector has been outstanding, in addition to the support extended to the sectors of education and renewable energy,” he said.

The embassy said Berlin has increased its contributions in humanitarian assistance to Jordan and upped its development cooperation to mitigate the impact of the refugee influx on the Kingdom.