Minister urges donors to deliver on pledges to Jordan
10-09-2016 12:09 PM
Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury urged donor nations to make good on pledges they made to Jordan at a summit in London in February to help the Kingdom deal with the repercussions of the Syrian crisis.
Fakhoury spoke at a meeting with ambassadors of donor countries and representatives of United Nations organisations, to discuss developments related to the progress of work on the "comprehensive framework" to deal with the consequences of the Syrian crisis and the outcome of the London meeting (Jordan Compact), which pledged billions of dollars to Syria and regional countries.
Today's meeting, attended by finance minister Omar Malhas, also tackled progress with the European Union on easing the rules of origin and access of Jordanian goods to European markets, as "a key gain the national economic had achieved".
The comprehensive framework aims to develop programmes to enable Jordan to bear the repercussions of hosting Syrian refugees according to the 2016-2018 Jordan Response Plan and the revised 2017-2019 plan.
Fakhouri told the envoys that Jordan's infrastructure and social and material structure had been stretched to the limit, referring to a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that sets financial ceilings, particularly regarding the budget and foreign debt.
He warned that failure by the international community to extend enough support and increase aid to Jordan would affect the Kingdom's ability to carry out its responsibility toward the Syrian refugees on behalf of the world.
Today's meeting reviewed grants received to finance the Jordan Response Plan and the education sector, and soft loans to plug the financing gap and bankroll development projects via the World Bank's new financing initiative for the Middle East and North Africa. Fakhoury reviewed financial problems and socio-economic challenges facing Jordan as a result of political conditions in the region due to the Syrian crisis and other conflicts and their ramifications on the Jordanian economy and services to refugee host communities.