Jordanian PM opens small- and medium-sized enterprises conference

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour opened on Monday a conference on financing small- and medium-sized projects and the role of loan guarantee programmes.
In remarks during the conference, being organized by the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation to mark the 20th anniversary of its establishment, Ensour said the event coincides with the government's plans to prepare a framework for the Kingdom’s economic and social policies, dubbed the "2025 vision," noting that the vision attaches special importance to small and medium sized projects.
The government, he added, has adopted a comprehensive framework to support small and medium sized projects as part of its economic program, recognizing their due importance, and added that a higher committee headed by the minister of planning and international cooperation was formed to achieve this objective.
Ensour said that the government specially focuses on providing finance for these projects to enable them to expand and also to increase competitiveness. "Our development needs and economic priorities prompt us to focus on reducing the unemployment rate and fight poverty while reducing dependence on the general budget and direct support programs," he added.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, Ziyad Fariz, said that the Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation was established through an initiative of the bank in 1994, adding that the Corporation has shouldered its responsibilities well in the past and achieved its objectives effectively. "Through this conference, the company seeks to develop its services based on the best international standards," he added.
Participants in the conference include experts from the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the USAID, in addition to other supporting international bodies.
The two-day conference will discuss the economic and social roles of small- and medium-sized projects and financial challenges facing them, among other issues.