Jordan, USAID seal MoU on Jordan competitiveness programme

Irbid Chamber of Industry on Thursday sealed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Stuart Jones, for an agreement on the Jordan Competitiveness Program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
President of the Chamber, Hani Abu Hassan, said that the agreement includes a group of projects aimed at improving the industrial sector and the business environment as well as increasing the competitiveness of Jordanian companies in order to upgrade its industrial climate and output.
He added that the Program aims to make Jordanian companies globally competitive in the field of energy, science and technology and local health by marketing in line with the global supply chain.
Director General of the Jordan Industrial Estates Corporation, Louay Sahwil, said that the Program will also enhance the partnership between the public and private sectors to enable them to respond to the needs of the local labor market, noting that Jordan now has five industrial chambers with plans to establish another five in order to create 18,000 jobs.
Ambassador Jones said that the Program will create hundreds of jobs to help alleviate unemployment and poverty in Jordan, noting that his country has recently reduced the benefits of loans on Jordan from 7% to 2%, saving Jordan $250,000 this year.
The Jordan Competitiveness Program assists Jordanian private and public sector leaders to achieve competitiveness and meet the job creation targets, equitably and sustainably. It supports industry specialization in information and communications technology, ramping up capacity in renewable energy, and improving standards for low-cost, high-quality medical services.