Planning Ministry signs 60 million euro agreements with Germany, EU to boost water, sanitation sector

AMMAN — The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation signed on Monday two cooperation agreements worth 60 million euros, funded by the German government and the European Union, to support the water and sanitation sector.

According to a statement by the ministry, the agreements were signed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Zeina Toukan, Director of the German Development Bank in Jordan Mark Schwiete, and Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Soud. 

The signing ceremony was also attended by German Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Niels Annen, German Ambassador to Jordan Bertram von Moltke and European Union Ambassador to Jordan Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas.

The first agreement, a grant from the European Union worth 10 million euros, is earmarked for a project aimed at enhancing energy efficiency through electricity generation from biogas in sewage treatment plants. This project will be supported by the German Development Bank.

The second agreement involves a concessional loan of 50 million euros from the German government, facilitated through the German Development Bank. This loan will finance a project focused on environmentally friendly sewage sludge disposal and climate protection.

Toukan said that the biogas project aims to boost energy efficiency in sewage treatment plants, thereby improving the cost recovery ratio for the water sector and contributing to climate protection. The sewage sludge disposal project, on the other hand, is designed to promote sustainable disposal and recycling of sewage sludge, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the environment.

In a bilateral meeting with Annen and the accompanying delegation, discussions revolved around potential contributions to finance the government’s priorities for the next phase, as outlined in the Economic Modernisation Vision for 2023-2025 and the roadmap for public sector updates. These initiatives will be supported through German developmental assistance allocated to the Kingdom for the upcoming phase.

The meeting also addressed the challenges associated with financing the priorities of the Jordanian response plan to the Syrian crisis, particularly in maintaining services provided to Syrian refugees in camps and host communities.

Toukan underscored the importance of ongoing support to the Kingdom to effectively tackle these challenges, adding that this meeting served as a precursor to the official Jordanian-German talks on the development cooperation program for 2024/2025, scheduled for early May.