Rabadi pledges extra JD1m to support veterans’ enterprises

AMMAN — Planning Minister Wissam Rabadi on Wednesday announced that the Ministry will provide additional funding totalling JD1 million to finance and support the micro and small enterprises of military retirees.

The amount will be taken from funding allocated to the Economic and Social Productivity Enhancement Programme, according to a Planning Ministry statement.

The ministry will support the enterprises through a financing window in cooperation with the Economic and Social Association of Retired Servicemen and Veterans (ESARSV), the statement said.

The minister stressed that is being implemented in accordance with Royal directives, and is aimed at supporting and empowering military retirees and improving their standard of living.

The new support increases the total support the Ministry of Planning provided to finance this portfolio during 2017, 2018 and 2019 to JD3 million.

Rabadi said that this portfolio has so far resulted in the creation of 450 production projects for military retirees. 

It is expected that 700-750 productive projects will benefit from this portfolio by the end of 2020, the minister said, adding that the number of enterprises funded through this portfolio will double annually, he added.

He added that in 2019, the Economic and Social Productivity Enhancement Programme financed 540 productive projects for local community organisations, youth, women, underprivileged families and military retirees in various governorates of the Kingdom, he said. 

The programme also helped establish 1,200 small-, medium- and home-based-enterprises through its 28 IRADA centres, he noted.

An agreement was also made with the Jordan Applied College for Hotel and Tourism Education to develop a hotel management school to train 300 youth annually and integrate them into the labour market.

The ministry also financed five garment factories around the Kingdom in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour.

The ministry has also provided support to train 750 recent graduates in private sector institutions, 20 per cent of whom are now employed in those institutions.

Additionally, the ministry targeted 850 project owners and their employees with specialised technical training for projects. The ministry also supported the implementation of 23 temporary exhibitions of handicraft and food products for local institutions and productive families with low incomes, according to a ministry statement.