Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mary Kawar has announced the agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) reached with the British government on the sidelines of the London Initiative 2019 themed Jordan Growth and Opportunities.

An MoU in the field of human resources and education between the two countries was reached in implementation of a National Strategy for Human Resource Development for 2016 – 2025. The Jordanian-British protocol also aims at bolstering cooperation between both countries' educational institutions in human resources sphere.

It also frames cooperation through fostering ties between academic and research organizations, opening the door for partnerships between Jordan-UK private sectors, and reciprocating visits of experts and concerned officials.

The government also signed a Euro 65 million agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund projects aimed at improving potable water services and sewage in the Jordan Valley region. A grant initiative on addressing economic vulnerabilities worth 16.3 million Euros was also agreed upon to implement the project and will be signed over the next few months.

Moreover, a memo with the French Development Agency (AFD) to secure funding for key developmental projects in the Jordan was also inked.

The funding from the AFD is expected to reach $1 billion over the period of 2019-2022 to enable the Kingdom finance key projects of in the water, sewer, waste, transport, local and urban development and energy sectors, as well as governance and vocational training domains.

The minister noted that an MoU was sealed between the World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation and Britain's Department for International Development to establish a special mechanism run by the planning ministry to support implementing an economic reform matrix adopted by Jordan for 2018-2022.

She, moreover, said that Britain announced a new support to Jordan worth $1 billion in order to assist economic and developmental reforms, $250 million of which will be in loan guarantees provided by the World Bank to support this year's budget. Another $840 million in grants will be also provided over the next five years.

Kawar also announced a developmental assistance provided by Japan that includes $300 million in soft loans and $100 million in the form of grants.