Germany has pledged a total of €483.6 million in new development-focused assistance and soft loans for 2021, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
The commitment was announced following annual German-Jordanian talks over development cooperation chaired by Minister Nasser Shraideh and Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Maria Franziska Flachsbarth.
Aside from €108.7 million Berlin pledged for the Jordan Response Plan to the Syrian Crisis (JRP), €344.3 million will be channeled to finance priority projects through grants, technical assistance and soft loans. Of this amount, €300 million will be provided in the form of financial assistance and will be dedicated to supporting various sectors, including water and sanitation, education, and vocational training.
An amount of €44.3 million will be provided in the form of grants for technical assistance while €36.6 million represent previous commitments made by Germany, according to the statement.
Shraideh said that the talks provided an opportunity to study and agree on current and future priority projects, indicating that they were held in a mutual consultative manner and within a constructive and transparent atmosphere.
The Minister thanked Germany for the assistance it provided to Jordan and contributed to many priority projects, especially in the sectors of water, education, training and vocational and technical education, in addition to additional assistance directed to the communities hosting Syrian refugees.
He stressed that all this reflects Germany’s understanding of the challenges facing the Jordanian economy at this stage, and that Berlin is ready to stand by the Kingdom as a reliable partner through its commitment to providing financial and technical assistance to meet these challenges.
During the talks, Shraideh reviewed the performance of the Jordanian economy and the main economic and social challenges, including the economic downturn last year and the high unemployment rate, indicating that these challenges deepened as a result of the repercussions of the Corona pandemic.
The German officials were also briefed on the government’s economic priorities program for 2021-2023, which came to focus on recovery and economic growth by stimulating the private sector to create more job opportunities for Jordanians, in addition to improving the coverage of national social protection programs.
The minister indicated to German officials that Jordan is interested in loans granted under the development policy to support the general budget on concessional terms, calling on the German side to continue providing a package of soft financing assistance to support the budget and priority sectors.
The minister also reviewed the National Employment Program, under development, for the years 2022 and 2023 as one of the main components of the government’s economic priorities program and that it is important to obtain technical and financial support for this program from Germany.
Source: Jordan News Agency