Nayrouz News Agency : The Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) on Sunday launched a new programme to support local small- and medium-sized industrial enterprises directly through contributing to the shipping costs of their products to access non-traditional markets, according to a corporation statement.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply and JEDCO Board Chairman Tareq Hammouri, said that the programme aims to support and enhance exports of local products to new untraditional markets to enhance trade and economic cooperation, the statement said.

The targetted markets are considered a "gateway to exit from the economic difficulties we face in cooperation with the private sector”, the minister said.

"A roadmap will be drawn which will lead us to those new, untraditional markets, which include all African countries beyond Arab countries, in addition to Eurasian countries [Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan] and Singapore and Azerbaijan,” the minister said in the statement.

JEDCO’s CEO Bashar Zoubi said that the programme, which will start receiving applications as of Sunday, provides financial grants on a competitive basis targetting export opportunities among industrial SMEs from different governorates, with a grant of JD10,000 and up to 70 per cent of the total expenses. The enterprise must be operating in one of a specific group of industrial sectors.

The targetted sectors will include food, pharmaceutics, aluminum industries, jewellery industries, chemical industries, plastic industries, the garments sector, leather industries, household appliances, electrical equipment and appliances, chemical and detergents industries and the furniture sector, Zoubi added.

He indicated that JEDCO’s staff have developed an electronic application form for SMEs to apply for the programme, in line with the Jordanian government's instructions under the current circumstances.

The application can be downloaded from JEDCO’s website, www.jedco.gov.jo, and sent with an electronic copy of the required attachments and documents. The deadline for applications is July 12.