The German government, under the minutes of meeting of the annual Jordanian-German discussions on development cooperation for 2020, which were signed on Saturday, pledged to offer new development assistance to Jordan worth 394.3 million euros.

The amount, comprising grants, technical aid and soft loans, will be disbursed over the next years to fund priority development projects in the education, water, sanitation, renewable energy, vocational training, technical education and environment sectors, according to a statement from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

The aid will cover other projects under the Jordan Response Plan for the Syrian crisis (JRP) and other programmes to respond to challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The discussions were held over two days through videoconference with the participation of a government delegation headed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh and a German delegation led by Director General of the Middle East Directorate at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Claudia Warning. 

The pledged assistance was distributed to 166 million euros as financial assistance, both grants and soft loans, to support national priorities through the German Development Bank (KfW) in cooperation with relevant ministries.

The aid also comprises 50 million euros as technical assistance to implement projects in vital sectors, such as water, sanitation, environment and technical education to contribute to creating more jobs, through the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in cooperation with relevant ministries.

A total of 126.1 million euros was allocated as grants to finance service projects and priorities in host communities under the JRP, in addition to allocating 50 million euros as a grant to respond to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2.2 million euros as a previous pledge from the German government to fund development projects.

Shraideh expressed the government’s appreciation for the German government’s support to Jordan as a strategic partner to the Kingdom, stressing that the German assistance helps implement priority schemes and meets the needs of local communities hosting Syrian refugees.

"Our countries enjoy strong, historical ties and Germany has been a longstanding development partner. We have and will continue to value this support,” Shraideh said.

The ministry statement said that Germany is the second largest donor to Jordan, noting that 2019 marked 60 years of German-Jordanian development cooperation.