ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has allocated around $600 million to
support development projects in Jordan within the public-private partnership, the Planning and International Cooperation Ministry said Thursday.

The allocation was announced during a meeting between Planning Minister Imad Fakhoury and the US agency's Managing Director Structured Finance Nancy Rivera to discuss projects funded by the agency in Jordan, since its funding wallet in the Kingdom reach around $1 billion.

During the meeting, Fakhoury showcased priority development projects, on top of which the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead), the Amman civil airport rehabilitation project and several projects to process solid waste and generate energy, in addition to renewable energy, green economy, transportation and water projects.

Jordan suffers economic and social challenges, most significant of which the increase in poverty and unemployment rates, aggravated with the repercussions of the Syrian crisis, the minister said, stressing the importance of having the international community shoulder its responsibilities.

The Jordan Response Plan 2017-2019 to deal with the crisis' repercussions put the international community under the responsibility to gather extra support to Jordan, other than the commitment in bilateral means, Fakhoury said, explaining that this support could enable Jordan continue providing services to the refugees and Jordanian host communities as well as maintain the Kingdom's resilience.

The planning minister highlighted the importance of preserving national economy through going forward with structural and financial reforms as well as increasing growth rates to overcome challenges.

The government adopted a set of measures to facilitate business practice and endorsed a set of priority laws and regulations to improve the business environment, Fakhoury said, stressing the importance of the Jordan Vision 2025, which he said is an economic and social future vision for the next 10 years and a roadmap for Jordan to follow the path of development.

Fakhoury and the OPIC delegation discussed cooperation in priority fields and Rivera briefed him about the agency's activity in Jordan and the world, noting that the value of their overall support project $20 billion.

As for OPIC-funded projects in Jordan, Rivera said that they are valued at around $2 billion and deemed as the highest in proportion to the economy's volume and the population.

Rivera voiced her agency's readiness to contribute in supporting priority projects in the Kingdom, the statement said, adding that OPIC is the US government funding arm to the private sector, providing guarantees to seven trade banks in Jordan at a value of $250 million.

OPIC also contributed to funding energy projects in Jordan at a value of $195 million.