Local

AMMAN — Jordanian digital gaming developers will have the chance to receive specialised training in Sweden within a partnership between the Jordan Gaming Task Force and Stugan, a nonprofit accelerator programme.

“Stugan did not receive any applications from Jordanian developers or companies in the industry last year and is looking forward to receiving applications from Jordan for its programme next year,” Jana Karlikova, cofounder and project manager of Stugan, said during the Jordan Gaming Summit 2015, which concluded on Sunday.

Applications for places on the programme will open in January through April of next year, she said.

Nour Khrais, chairman of the Jordan Gaming Task Force, which is one of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development’s programmes, said the taskforce will discuss with Stugan how Jordanians working in the gaming industry can benefit from the Swedish training programme.

Selected applicants will spend two months at Stugan working with independent developers to learn how to develop their dream games.

Those wishing to take part in the programme should contact Stugan at info@stugan.com, either as an individual or on behalf of a team, and send a video pitch describing their game idea. 

The application should also include a summary of the team’s credentials and what they hope to achieve at the Stugan programme. 

“Sending Jordanians in the digital gaming field to such programmes will greatly enhance their skills and help us develop the human resources we have in this sector,” Khrais, who is also founder and CEO of mobile gaming company Maysalward, told The Jordan Times.

“Participants in the programme will be able to build partnerships in the field and exchange ideas and expertise with other experts,” he added.

AMMAN — The European Union has disbursed 80 million euros (around JD64.2 million) to the Kingdom in the form of a loan as the second part of a 180 million euro (JD144.4 million) assistance programme for the country, an EU statement said on Monday.

Jordan received the first 100 million euros (around JD80.3 million) on February 10.

The loan, which is part of a Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programme for Jordan that was adopted by the EU Parliament and Council of Ministers in December 2013, is a form of assistance that comes in addition to other forms of support such as EU cooperation in national reform efforts in areas such as energy policy, employment and private sector development, the statement said.

The MFA programme is a crisis response instrument complementary to assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund that is given to countries experiencing severe balance of payment problems, according to the statement. 

In regards to Jordan, the MFA programme intends to strengthen the Kingdom’s “foreign exchange reserve position and alleviate its balance of payments and budgetary needs stemming from negative shocks caused by regional instability, including the interruption of gas supplies from Egypt and the Syrian crisis”, the statement said.

The programme also seeks to support national reforms aimed at strengthening public finance management and the tax system, increasing social inclusiveness, improving the Kingdom’s investment climate, enhancing energy efficiency, and promoting economic integration with the EU. 

Jordan signed the memorandum of understanding with the Loan Facility Agreement in relation to such assistance in Brussels in March 2014.

In addition, the country’s bilateral cooperation with the EU, which includes 110 million euros of financial assistance in 2014 (around JD88.3 million), tackles a broad range of sectors “ranging from public finance management, technical and vocational education and training, to the promotion of sustainable management of energy and natural resources” within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the statement said. 

Since 2012, the EU has also provided more than 300 million euros (around JD241 million) for humanitarian, development and security needs in relation to the Syrian crisis, which began in 2011.

Furthermore, in February 2015, the European Commission presented the first “comprehensive strategy on tackling the crises in Syria and Iraq, bringing together initiatives which will mobilise 1 billion euros in funding for the next two years”, according to the EU statement.

AMMAN – Reviving traditional Jordanian cuisine while exploring the connection between culinary heritage and health benefits is the main aim of “Our Country’s Goods” company.

Established by Ahmad Sadi Al Zaben along with another partner, the firm is initiated under INJAZ’s Company Start-up Programme, a three-phase initiative that strives to entrench the culture of entrepreneurship among young people. 

While displaying his start-up’s products at a trade fair held on Sunday as part of INJAZ’s National Entrepreneurship Competition, Zaben cited the nutritional benefits of the “bkeileh”, a traditional dessert made with fried grinded wheat mixed with margarine, sugar and water.

“I discovered bkeileh by chance while I was looking for old nutritional recipes our grandmothers used to come up with to feed their families. The idea of the company is to introduce these recipes to the new generations, who otherwise would never have the chance to try them,” Zaben told The Jordan Times. 

Products of “Our Country’s Good” are now on display in one of Amman’s upscale malls. 

Winners of the National Entrepreneurship Competition included start-ups specialised in manual printing services, extracting minerals through recycling, roof greening, food marketing and new cultivation techniques. 

“The meaning of entrepreneurship and how to become an entrepreneur are the main skills the project is keen on instilling in our youth,” INJAZ CEO Deema Bibi said at the ceremony to announce the winners. 

Currently, there are 87 active start-ups managed by 236 students within the programme. 

“The profits of some of these companies have topped 100 per cent during the first year and others have gone global,” she highlighted. 

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said the ministry has established a special fund to provide around 80 per cent of the guarantees required for loans extended to youths wishing to run their own businesses. 

He added that the ministry supports INJAZ’s Company Start-up Programme as part of its endeavours to empower youth. 

Underlining the important role civil society organisations and local entities play in pushing the development process forward, Fakhouri said the ministry has established several partnerships with societies and youth and women’s institutions. 

During the ceremony, the results of the best social entrepreneurship award were announced. 

“INJAZ is aware that social entrepreneurship is as important as business entrepreneurship. The award recognises enterprises that aim at empowering youth,” said Bibi. 

Established in 1999, INJAZ aims to “inspire and prepare young Jordanians to become productive members of society and succeed in a global economy”. 

INJAZ, which started off as a USAID-supported programme, was launched as an independent Jordanian nonprofit organisation by Her Majesty Queen Rania in 2001.

AMMAN — As a result of contributions from various donors, the World Food Programme (WFP) will be able to reinstate food assistance to 229,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees who have been without assistance since September this year, according to a statement from the agency.

The vulnerable refugees living in Jordanian communities, whose food assistance was cancelled earlier this year, will now have their e-cards uploaded with JD10 per person per month.

Furthermore, the WFP will be able to increase the value of its food assistance from JD10 to JD15 to extremely vulnerable refugees. The value of a full voucher is set at JD20.

With the current funding, the WFP will be able to maintain these levels of assistance until January 2016. 

However, the agency continues to struggle “to run the operation based on predictable sources of funding” so that it can “continue to meet the food needs of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees on a regular basis”, the statement said.

The WFP added that the suffering of Syrian refugees can only be alleviated by a viable political solution to the conflict. However, it insisted that the international community has a “moral obligation” to ensure that the basic needs of refugees are met. 

The programme is funded entirely by voluntary contributions and needs to raise $15 million (approximately JD10.6 million) each month in order to meet the basic food needs of Syrian refugees in the Kingdom.

The statement highlighted the fact that, due to lack of assistance, refugees have been forced to take “extreme measures including going back to Syria. They are going back to what they were running from in the first place.” 

It also emphasised the fact that “the number of Syrian refugees risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean in search of refuge in Europe has increased fourfold compared to last year.” 

The WFP conducts regular monitoring, surveys and focus groups in Jordan to measure the impact of the reduction in assistance on refugees.

The agency has previously had to make deep cuts in its programme in the country due to funding shortages. 

In January 2015, the agency was forced to cut the level of assistance for 450,000 Syrian refugees from the planned JD20 to JD13 per person per month. It has been repeatedly forced to reduce assistance throughout 2015 in order to stretch resources out for a longer period of time. 

AMMAN — Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) President Issa Murad on Monday praised a Cabinet decision that lowers sales tax and customs duties on several items, noting that the decision would positively reflect on the Kingdom’s commercial activity.

Under the decision, which was recently published in the Official Gazette, the sales tax was reduced from 16 to 8 per cent on clothes, bags, watches, shoes, perfume, jewellery, toys and cosmetics.

Customs duties were lowered by between 30 to 5 per cent on these items.

Murad expressed his appreciation for the Cabinet’s response to the commercial sector’s demands to reduce taxes and fees on items that serve the national economy, according to an ACC statement.

The chamber described the decision as positive considering the Kingdom’s difficult economic circumstances and the decline in the commercial activity affecting different sectors.

The ACC also called on the government to reconsider taxes and fees imposed on many food items, whose prices constantly change to avoid entering the Kingdom illegally, the statement added.

Such a decision would contribute to curbing tax evasion and supporting social classes with limited income as decreasing taxes leads to lower prices and more protection for these segments, the chamber said.

Reducing taxes shows the government’s keenness to provide real social security to its citizens, the ACC president said.

AMMAN — Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) President Hussam Masheh has been elected as assistant secretary for education affairs in the Arab League’s Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation’s (ALECSO) board of trustees, according to a JTA statement released Monday.

Masheh was elected during the ALECSO founding conference, held recently in Beirut.

ALECSO is an independent democratic educational organisation that includes syndicates, associations and federations of Arab educators, and it aims at developing education and scientific research, in addition to empowering teachers in the Arab world, according to the statement.

AMMAN — Egyptian Ambassador Khaled Tharwat announced the conclusion of out-of-country elections in Jordan, and the sorting of the first phase votes that ended on Sunday at 9pm.

The total votes amounted to 1,067, 945, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, quoting Tharwat. He urged Egyptian residents in the Kingdom to participate in the runoffs slated for October 26 and 27.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) CEO Dana J. Hyde on Monday inaugurated the start of operations at the expanded As Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant in Zarqa. 

The plant will provide Jordan with 133 million cubic metres of treated water per year — representing more than 10 per cent of the Kingdom’s entire water resources, according to a US embassy statement.  

“It is now one of the largest and most modern wastewater treatment plants in the Middle East, treating more than 70 per cent of all wastewater produced in Jordan,” the statement added.

“MCC... is working together with the government of Jordan to conserve the country’s critical water supply and improve the quality of water for families and business,” the statement quoted Hyde as saying. 

“Our partnership is an example of the strong US commitment to the people of Jordan and the critical needs of the region.”

The plant harnesses clean energy to produce electricity, and the project has employed approximately 1,500 people, according to the statement.

“By increasing the amount of treated water that is released into the Zarqa River, wildlife is returning to the river, and more clean water is available for irrigation to support farmers in the Jordan Valley,” it added.

MCC contributed a $93 million grant to the expansion, alongside additional funding from the government, a financing syndicate led by the Arab Bank, and As Samra Project Company, a consortium of private companies, according to the US embassy.

The MCC grant represents part of its five-year, $275 million MCC-Jordan Compact signed in 2010.

Also on Monday, Ensour met with Hyde and discussed various areas of cooperation between Jordan and the MCC, as well as water-related projects currently under way, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

At the meeting, also attended by Water Minister Hazem Nasser and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury, the premier stressed the government’s commitment to maintaining cooperation with the MCC and to further boosting its activities in the Kingdom, expressing the government’s appreciation of the US support of Jordan, especially for the Samra project, which seeks to alleviate the water crisis in the Kingdom.

Ensour highlighted the impact of the Syrian crisis on the Kingdom, given that it currently hosts around 1.4 million Syrians.

AMMAN — A guest worker died on Monday after he fell from the fourth floor of a building  in Aqaba while doing construction work, according to Civil Defence Department cadres. Also on Monday, seven people were injured in a two-vehicle collision in east Amman.

The injured were taken to Al Bashir Hospital where they were listed in fair condition, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.   

AMMAN — Police on Monday arrested a suspected conman in Zarqa who was reportedly attempting to sell US dollars for a lesser rate than the market value. Police initially received a tip that a group was trying to sell $0.5 million to a man for JD175,000.

Following investigations, police managed to identify the location of the deal. As soon as one of the suspects arrived at the scene by car, he was apprehended and further investigations are under way to find his accomplices.

Police identified him as an Arab national, and found bundles of white paper cut in the size of US dollar bills in his possession. The police also found a pistol and ammunition in his possession, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.