Alrai - The Jordanian Foundation for the Development of Economic Projects (GEDCO) launched a package of supporting programs for entrepreneurial, small and medium-sized projects operating in the industrial and services sectors, to provide technical and financial support with a total value of 2.6 million dinars per package.

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply, Dr. Tariq Al-Hamouri, stressed in a speech during the launching ceremony that supporting the sectors and economic and industrial activities is part of His Majesty's assignment to the government aimed at expanding the base of industrial exporters, increasing export rates and providing job opportunities.

Al-Hamouri added that by reviewing previous programs that were launched to support the industrial and service sectors, it was found that they exceeded the target and achieved important achievements in terms of increasing the rates of exports and job opportunities.

He said: The program "Transforming Invention Models into Commercial Projects" is an ambitious program that enables Jordanian inventors to develop, register and transform their inventions from a creative idea to an income-generating activity and thus from an idea to an economic commercial project.

Al-Hammouri said that the number of programs that will be launched in the future will be increased, bringing the total number of beneficiary companies to 170 companies and establishments of all programs.

Dr. Bashar Al-Zoubi, executive director of the Jordanian Foundation for Economic Projects Development, said: The first program is “Transforming Invention Models into Commercial Projects” that aims to encourage pioneers to invent by converting their invention models to production projects that are economically feasible, and helping them to register the intellectual property of their inventions at the Ministry of Industry Trade and catering, offering innovative new products with high added value and high growth opportunities that meet the needs of the local market, establishing new economically feasible projects with high growth opportunities and creating new jobs.

He pointed out that the program also aims to encourage pioneers on national linkages and integration with value chains such as using other companies ’production lines, producing complementary products that solve sectoral problems, motivating inventors to invent commercial products and focusing on the commercial side before the production side.

He indicated that the program, which will be implemented in cooperation with the Jordanian Entrepreneurial Fund, IPark, Impact MENA, and Abu Ghazaleh Intellectual Property Company, is targeting pioneers and emerging entrepreneurs who have invented innovative equipment and devices in any of the industrial sectors in all governorates of the Kingdom.

The program, which starts receiving requests to benefit from it on the second Sunday of February next, also provides unrecovered financial grants on competitive bases targeting ten projects. The value of technical and financial support is 40 thousand dinars, the Foundation’s contribution rate of which reaches 90 percent, while the total budget of the program is 400 thousand dinars.

Al-Zoubi expected that through the program, 10 pioneers will be able to transfer their inventions from models to commercial projects that are economically feasible, and to create 80 jobs for the ten projects within 3 years, and that each project will achieve revenue size or an increase in capital and profits.

He explained that the second program "Supporting industrial companies for export for the first time" targets local small and medium companies operating in the industrial sector that have not exported during the past three years and that have high added value in all governorates of the Kingdom, and financial support will be provided to 30 industrial companies on Grant form with a ceiling of 40,000 dinars for the company, with a financing rate of 70 percent of the total project cost, bringing the total cost of the program to 1.2 million dinars.

He indicated that submitting applications to benefit from it during the month of February will increase the number of exporting companies by 10 percent at the level of Jordan during the first round of it, in addition to increasing export sales.

He pointed out that the third program, "Supporting Service Companies for Export", which will begin receiving requests for benefit on the second Thursday of January next, aims to support 40 local small and medium-sized companies operating in the sectors of tourism and hospitality, administrative, financial and legal consulting, training, health and treatment care, energy and services. Engineering, architectural and information technology in all governorates of the Kingdom, and the program provides financial and technical grants to build the administrative and productive capabilities to enhance the export mission, the value of the grant does not exceed 25 thousand dinars, 40 percent? Including support for management capabilities, while the maximum contribution to the program reaches 50 percent of the total costs eligible for an investment of no more than 50,000 dinars.

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