‘Japan to offer $50m in grants, $900m in soft loans to Jordan, Lebanon over next five years’

TOKYO — Japan will provide $50 million in grants and $900 million in soft loans to Jordan and Lebanon over the next five years to help alleviate the burdens of the Syrian crisis, a Japanese official has said. 

Kenichi Kobayashi, the deputy director of the Middle East Division at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview that the financial aid is planned to be delivered under the World Bank’s new facilitated funding mechanism for countries hosting refugees.

Further details of the funding agreement are yet to be discussed in future meetings between officials from the two countries, Kobayashi noted.

The Jordanian government has been pushing for a change in international assistance policy, pushing the World Bank and the global community to allow it to borrow under easier conditions applied to low-income countries, although the Kingdom ranks as a middle-income state.

A recent study by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation said the indirect economic impact of the Syrian crisis between 2013 and 2016 has cost Jordan $12.37 billion.

Meanwhile, Kobayashi commended Jordan’s efforts in hosting Syrian refugees and promoting peace in the region, highlighting Tokyo’s keenness on enhancing cooperation with Amman.

“Over the past year and a half, leaders of the two countries held four summits, including meetings on the sidelines of international events and conferences,” he highlighted.

Since the breakout of the Syrian civil war and the influx of refugees into Jordan over five years ago, Japan has funded “important” projects that seek to improve the services for refugees and host communities, the official explained.

In March 2014, Japan funded a project for improving drinking water services in the northern areas, including refugee camps, valued at around $24 million.

Another fund of around $22 million was offered in November 2014 to expand and renovate the water network in Balqa Governorate, 35km northwest of Amman.

Japan also provided around $7.6 million in 2013 and 2014 to build a new museum in the ancient city of Petra, 235km south of Amman.

On the other hand, Japan seeks to benefit from Jordan’s “long” experience in peacekeeping, Kobayashi said.

The two governments are currently negotiating military cooperation whereby members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces receive peacekeeping training and learn Arabic in Jordan, the official noted.

Since the initiation of official diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1974 and until 2015, Japan has provided Jordan with grants valued at $673 million, soft loans worth approximately $2.3 billion and technical cooperation valued at around $298 million.

Through technical cooperation programmes, which started in 1985, 825 Japanese technicians trained 2,463 Jordanians in various fields including small- and medium-sized enterprises, water supply and electricity.