Turkey to offer financial, technical assistance to Jordan

AMMAN –– Turkey will soon join the ranks of international donors that offer financial and technical assistance to Jordan. 

Officials from both countries on Monday signed a framework agreement to regulate economic cooperation related to grants and assistance Ankara will provide to Amman in the near future. 

Planning and International Cooperation Minister Ibrahim Saif and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) President Serdar Çam signed the agreement in Amman.

During a several-day visit of TIKA officials, the agency will provide a $50,000 grant to purchase home appliances for 100 underprivileged families to be distributed through the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, according to the Planning Ministry.   

Saif told reporters during the signing ceremony that the agreement will identify cooperation aspects, which include implementing economic development schemes in various fields such as expertise and scientific exchange, management, environment, renewable energy, culture, agriculture and rural development. 

It includes boosting cooperation in small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the health, transport, water and sewage sectors. 

Turkey will also offer assistance in technical, economic and humanitarian aid fields, the minister added. 

Saif said the agreement did not specify the value of assistance to be offered to Jordan, explaining that officials from both countries will estimate the volume of aid on the basis of projects Jordan proposes. 

He added that Jordan is keen to develop economic ties with Turkey in all fields. 

Çam indicated that TIKA is planning to open an office in Amman this year, noting that his country is interested in investing in the Kingdom’s renewable energy sector. 

Responding to a question on the political motives of the agreement, Saif said economic growth in Turkey as well as its increasing interests in the region pushed it to boost political and economic ties with regional countries. 

“Jordan and Turkey have always enjoyed good relations,” Çam said, adding that Ankara’s interests in regional countries, including Jordan, have grown over the past decade.     

Jordan and Turkey signed a free trade agreement in 2009 that went into effect early 2010.