Awareness programmes introduce credit windows in remote areas — Fakhoury

AMMAN — The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation has implemented an awareness programme at all 51 governorates’ districts to identify the available lending, financing and advisory opportunities aimed at supporting individuals and local community institutions and ways of benefiting from them, according to a Planning Ministry statement.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said in the statement that the campaign, implemented in coordination with the Interior Ministry, governors and the concerned institutions, was supervised by his ministry with the aim of introducing the available credit, financing and advisory windows to enhance the chances of self-employment as a way to reduce joblessness. 

The campaign has targeted civil society organisations, local bodies, young jobseekers, women, craftsmen, university graduates, institutes and representatives of the private sector in these districts, Fakhoury said.

He added that this campaign came to complement the field visits carried out in the governorates during the year 2016, the statement said.

The campaign was carried out with the participation of the ministry’s economic and social production enhancement programme and the related financial and advisory institutions including the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, the Development and Employment Fund, the Agricultural Credit Fund, the Development Fund of the Governorates, the Hashemite Fund for Jordanian Badia Development, the Jordan Loan Guarantee Company, the National Employment and Training Company and the Irada Centre, Fakhoury said.

He noted that, as a result of this campaign, the Planning Ministry prepared a blueprint of the most important recommendations based on the feedback from the citizens, which were submitted to the Cabinet for review. He also announced appropriate measures would be taken to encourage small and self-employment projects in the governorates.

The minister stressed that the ministry’s 28 Irada centres across the Kingdom have been engaged in awareness raising sessions about the funding windows’ opportunities, and will be ready to study any ideas of citizens and local bodies in their areas, the statement added.

Fakhoury said that the recommendations charged a ministerial committee with examining the government funds to establish a unified office which will be a clear guide in each governorate to help young citizens, girls and local community bodies benefit from these opportunities. 

The recommendations included tasking various government lending funds to conduct a study to simplify and facilitate the fulfilment of the requirements and terms of financing or the fulfilment of the documents and guarantees required by the applicants for these lending and financing institutions as well as the study of the possibility of giving private Murabaha (an Islamic finance and investment instrument) ratios on loans to poor and remote areas.

Fakhoury highlighted the need for an official fatwa to be issued by the General Iftaa Department on the Murabaha method of the existing credit windows of the Development and Employment, and Agricultural Credit Funds and its compatibility with Sharia (Islamic law), in addition to the need to develop financing tools that are compatible with Islamic law and suitable for the nature of small and medium enterprises. 

He said it will help attract the largest number of target groups in the various districts, who tend to refrain from loans.

He stressed that these development programmes have been approved by the Council of Ministers as a reference document for the consolidation of development efforts in governorates.

Regarding the issue of unemployment and poverty, the minister said the investment plan for the governorates of the north, centre and south has been prepared to boost through investment in the provinces and enhance productivity. 

The maps have reached the competitive and investment sectors and identified many investment opportunities and income-generating jobs in these areas, according to the statement. 

In this context, the ministry has provided a JD 1.2 million funding to prepare feasibility studies on the outputs of the investment map in cooperation with the Investment Commission, the statement added. 

He noted it is expected to develop a plan to promote and attract interested individuals from the private sector locally and abroad through the Investment Commission.