Planning Ministry honours IRADA programme entrepreneurs

AMMAN — The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation on Thursday honoured distinguished entrepreneurs supported by its IRADA programme, which aims to develop small- and medium-sized enterprises.

During the awards ceremony, held at Al Hussein Youth City, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Wissam Rabadi said that the IRADA programme provides advisory support to community projects “to spread a culture of entrepreneurship”.

“The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation has every confidence that small- and medium-sized enterprises have a positive impact on socio-economic development, greater productivity and job creation in all Jordanian municipalities,” Rabadi said.

Jordan has made a “quantum leap” in facilitating businesses as it moved 29 ranks in the Doing Business Index from 104th to 75th place — an indicator of the “success of the reform process in upholding entrepreneurship”, he said.  

The coordinator general of IRADA, Sami Olaimi, said the event seeks to promote an investment culture and stimulate innovation by shedding light on Jordanian success stories.

“For the third consecutive year, IRADA is celebrating the success of entrepreneurs who distinguished themselves through their efforts and access to IRADA’s consulting and substantive services,” Olaimi said during the ceremony.

The objective of the event is to honour entrepreneurs with distinguished projects on the governorate level, Olaimi said.

The entrepreneurs were evaluated by a committee according to specific criteria and standards, the official said.

The IRADA programme was launched by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in 2002 as one of the key elements of strengthening economic and social productivity, which comes under the Royal vision to address economic and development challenges, Olaimi noted.

The programme offers its mentoring and training services free of charge for all citizens and entities through its 28 field-based centres located throughout the 12 governorates, Olaimi said.

Since the launch of IRADA, more than 11,000 awareness-raising lectures and training sessions have been carried out, reaching 120,000 individuals. Additionally, 24,000 economic studies have been run, which helped in establishing 15,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises, providing employment to 39,000 people, Olaimi said.

During the ceremony, a short film depicting success stories was screened in addition to the honouring of the programme’s cadres.

Dina, an entrepreneur from Madaba who developed her project at Mount Nebo with the assistance of IRADA, said that the programme provided her with technical support.

“Now I receive customers, mainly foreigners, as Mount Nebo is a tourist attraction, and I am very thankful for IRADA,” Dina told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the event.