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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan and Britain, on Monday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, by which the later will provide financial aid to Jordan, besides the humanitarian assistance it had provided to refugees through the United Nations organizations.

In the presence of Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Imad Fakhoury, and British Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel signed the MoU.

The MoU includes arrangements of the part of the financial support, to be provided by the government of the United Kingdom to Jordan, related to the agreement signed with Jordan as one of the outputs of the London Conference in support of Syria, which was held in London in February, co-chaired by Britain, Norway, the United Nations, Kuwait and Germany.

Fakhoury said the MoU includes a funding ceiling worth 190 million pounds distributed to two priorities. The first priority is the economic opportunities program, as per the agreement with Jordan, with a total value of 110 million pounds, including a soft loan worth 80 million pounds with a zero% interest that will be presented by International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to support economic opportunities for Jordanian citizens and Syrian refugees.

The second priority is a program to support education at a value of 80 million pounds that will be provided in the form of grants. It is mainly intended to cover part of additional expenditures to accommodate Syrian students in public schools in order to improve life chances of a generation of children by providing them with education.

Most of this aid will be channeled through the government of Jordan, and a small part of it will be channeled through the United Nations and other organizations, as it will be paid through installments over four years starting from 2016.

Earlier, Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, met with British Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, and voiced appreciation for the UK's support to Jordan, especially the one that was granted through the London Conference in February, which resulted in simplifying the rules of origin for Jordanian products exported to European countries.

He said Jordan hopes that Britain would support the implementation of the London Conference's outcome that will positively reflect on host communities and their infrastructure services, particularly in the sectors of education, water and health.

The British Secretary said: "This visit to Jordan is my first overseas engagement since becoming Britain's new International Development Secretary which underlines the deep partnership that exists between our two countries." "While the UK has voted to leave the European Union, more than ever before we will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to build security, prosperity and resilience across the world," Patel affirmed.

She added: "We will deliver on our commitments to Jordan and continue to work closely together in responding to the Syrian crisis by creating jobs, giving an education to all children and making ambitious trade deals a reality. I have now seen first-hand the impact our work is having on the ground and call on international partners to keep up the pace of delivering the support and assistance they have already pledged." "I would like to applaud the leadership of His Majesty, King Abdullah II and the Government of Jordan in taking forward the Jordan Compact. Our support will make a real difference, helping those who need it most now." Patel concluded.