Italian development agency opens Amman office

AMMAN — Monday witnessed the inauguration of the newly established Italian Agency for Development Cooperation’s (AICS) office in Amman, a move aimed at further strengthening cooperation between Jordan and Italy at all levels. 

Speaking at the inauguration, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury described the opening of the AICS office in Amman as a benchmark that would add to the already-strong ties between the two countries, particularly in the field of development cooperation. 

“Allow me to reiterate the Jordanian government’s sincere appreciation of Italy over the years. The opening of the AICS office in Amman comes as a step towards the further strengthening and expansion of our development cooperation programme,” Fakhoury said. 

He added that the move is also a “reflection of your understanding of the growing development needs of Jordan, which have been exacerbated as a result of regional crisis and the Syrian refugee influx”.

The minister underlined the significant role Italy plays in supporting Jordan, noting that the European country “remains an important and indispensable partner” for the Kingdom, welcoming the appointment of Michele Morana as the director of the AICS Amman office. 

“The opening of the office today will help us both in implementing the memorandum of understanding that we signed in March on the Italian Aid Programme for 2017-2019 and thus, in better coordinating, planning and delivering on your aid programme, in a way that also complements the work of other development partners on the ground,” noted Fakhoury. 

The aid programme comprises nearly 19 million euros (JD14.2 million) in grants and 143.8 million euros (JD107.3 million) in soft loans to finance various development projects. 

Out of the soft loan allocations, around 85 million euros (JD63.4 million) will go to support the state budget, while 58.8 million euros (JD43.9 million) will be used to finance development projects in priority sectors which will be announced later.

Italian Ambassador in Jordan Giovanni Brauzzi said the aid programme is considered a “turning point” in Jordanian-Italian bilateral cooperation, highlighting Italy’s swift response to pledges it made towards Jordan during London’s Conference on Syria.

“Jordan has been upgraded to a priority status country … in July 2016, the decision was taken to open an office in Amman. In November 2016, the office director started to work here…,” Brauzzi explained. 

Cutting the ribbon of the new office along with Fakhoury, Laura Frigenti, director of the AICS, stressed the role and mission of the new agency, which is responsible for the implementation of programmes funded by the Italian government in 20 countries. 

The Amman field office was the first to be inaugurated by Frigenti as the director of the agency. 

During her stay in Jordan, she paid visits to several tourism sites and checked on projects funded by Italy.