Khaberni - Today, Thursday, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply, Engineer Yaarub Al-Qudah, sponsored, with the presence of Minister of Agriculture Dr. Saeb Khreisat, the closure of the second phase of the Rural Economic Development and Employment program with extensive participation from national agencies and institutions from both the public and private sectors and funding parties, along with implementation partners.
The program, implemented under the efforts of the Jordanian Foundation for Economic Projects Development "JEDCO", aimed to achieve sustainable development by providing economic opportunities, improving the quality of life for rural families, addressing climate change challenges, enhancing food security, and promoting entrepreneurship.
During the event, key achievements, performance indicators, and the economic and social impacts achieved by the program through the services provided since its launch were reviewed, which comply with the vision of economic modernization.
During the first and second phases, the program provided over three thousand grants and soft loans, contributing to the creation of 7,500 job opportunities, supporting rural and agricultural projects, enhancing productivity, and connecting agricultural production with the manufacturing industry to provide sustainable economic opportunities.
Engineer Al-Qudah stated that the program has achieved significant results on the ground and within the targets directed towards rural development in the provinces, providing job opportunities for their residents, which His Majesty the King continually emphasizes to distribute developmental efforts to cover all regions of the Kingdom and benefit its residents.
He added that the projects funded by the program are of great importance in terms of establishing many rural and agricultural productive projects, increasing productivity, and linking the agricultural and industrial sectors, which contributes to job opportunities and reducing unemployment.
Engineer Al-Qudah also mentioned that, at the beginning of next year, 2026, the third phase of the program will be launched with the aim of economically empowering the agricultural and industrial sectors in accordance with the goals of the economic modernization vision and its projects that fall under the second executive program of the vision, which will be launched soon.
Dana Al-Za'bi, the acting Secretary-General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply/ Executive Director of "JEDCO", stated that the next phase will focus on supporting entrepreneurship and innovation for agricultural projects by providing innovative solutions to respond to water scarcity, adapting to climate change, and enhancing food security, in addition to transforming them into sustainable productive projects that will improve living standards, enhance participation in local economic development, and create job opportunities, entrenching the concept of entrepreneurship in the Jordanian countryside.
She discussed the work paths of the program, the projects it financed, the productive opportunities it promoted, launched, and job opportunities provided, and stimulating the business environment in many areas.
During the ceremony, the light was shed on several success stories of the program's beneficiaries across various provinces, coinciding with the launch of a quality initiative by the program in cooperation with the Royal Geographic Center for knowledge documentation and management through developing a geospatial map for all the program’s beneficiaries with the aim of sharing it with stakeholders working in the development sector to promote their projects and products. The supporting entities of the program were also honored.
