Ammon News -

The Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) on Tuesday launched a financial grant program to prop up small and medium-sized factories in the field of digital transformation and industrial automation as part of the EU-funded Jordan Industry 4.0 and Digitalization Innovation Center project.

According to a press statement, the ACI said that the grants aim to help industrial companies introduce new industrial practices or smart technologies in order to develop automation, scale up productivity and raise industrial companies' readiness for digital transformation.

The launch brought together the Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Youssef Shamali, the European Union Ambassador to Jordan Maria Hadjitheodosiou, and the ACI's Chairman Fathi Jaghbir.

Jaghbir said that the ACI organized an integrated package of programs and initiatives through cooperating and partnering with universities and centers of creativity and innovation to enhance competitiveness in the industrial sector.

The chamber, he noted, will continue to support industrial companies in building their technical and administrative capabilities, and developing their production through partnerships with relevant national and international institutions to boost competitiveness and create more job opportunities.

Hanandeh stated that industrial companies that are not currently covered by the ministry's subsidy programs will be covered soon, adding that the start-up companies that it does support will become small and medium-sized companies.

Shamali explained that the Jordan Innovation Center, which is the first of its kind in Kingdom, is managed by the private sector, stressing the importance of developing the Jordanian industrial products amid the rapidly spreading Fourth Industrial Revolution, which has shifted production methods and processes.

Elaborating on the grants, the CEO of (SAM) Engineering Company Samir Ayasra stated that the grant program for small and medium-sized factories offers up to 37,000 euros per company.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Jordan Industry 4.0 and Digitalization Innovation Center Samer Dimasi said the conditions that must be met by those applying for the grant include the following: the company must be a Jordanian private company registered in one of the chambers of industry, and has been operating for more than two years in the Kingdom, and it must have a sound financial balance for the last two years prior to submitting the application. Additionally, the number of workers in the facility must range between 10 and 99 male and female workers, and the volume of the company's operations must exceed JD350,000 annually.