Jordan, Kuwait Fund sign $65.2m agreements for education, infrastructure projects

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Zeina Toukan and Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Waleed Shumlan Al Bahr, on Monday signed two agreements to finance the third phase of the General Education Infrastructure Project and the Roads and Bridges Rehabilitation Project.

Each project is valued at 10 million Kuwaiti dinars, which equals some $32.6 million.

The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister of Public Works and Housing Maher Abu Samhan, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Azmi Mahafzah, and the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Jordan Hamad Rashid Al Marri.

The agreements are part of Kuwait's commitment at the 2018 Makkah Summit to provide Jordan with a concessional loan programme totalling $500 million, meant to support the Kingdom's key development priorities and improve essential public services in various sectors.

The General Education Infrastructure Project will address the need for vocational education facilities through the construction of five technical and vocational schools in Irbid, Amman, Ajloun, Karak and Zarqa. 

With a total of 108 classrooms, these schools will provide expanded opportunities for technical and vocational education and training for students in grades 10 to 12. The new facilities will also help alleviate overcrowding in existing schools.

The Roads and Bridges Rehabilitation Project, which aims to improve traffic flow and road safety throughout the Kingdom, includes the rehabilitation of approximately 2,528 kilometres of roads and the maintenance of several bridges in the northern, central and southern regions of Jordan. The project will also upgrade water drainage systems and implement road safety improvements.

Toukan thanked Kuwait for its continued support, highlighting the strong bilateral relations and fruitful partnership with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Since 1962, the Fund has contributed some $2.1 billion to Jordan's development, including $1.33 billion in grants and $778 million in concessional loans.

For his part, Bahr reaffirmed Kuwait's commitment to supporting Jordan's development goals, stressing the continued cooperation between the Kuwait Fund and the Jordanian government to help implement the Kingdom's economic and development plans and ensure the delivery of essential services to its citizens.