The World Bank agreed to extend the closure of the “Economic Opportunities for Jordanians and Syrian Refugees” program to January 31, 2024, at the request of the government.

The agreement to extend the closure of the program was signed by the Regional Director of the Levant Department at the World Bank, Jean-Christophe Carré, and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Zina Toukan, on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington.

The World Bank agreed to finance the program in 2016 with a value of $300 million, then funded it again with $100 million in 2020, in addition to a grant of $51 million, as the program aims to improve the living conditions of both Syrian refugees and the local Jordanian communities hosting them. their future prospects and their resilience in the face of difficulties.

The government request suggested increasing the program’s expenditures to $625 million, with an extension for a year, as the Bank has spent approximately $386 million for the program since its launch, while the World Bank document did not show that the latter agreed to the proposal to increase spending on the program.

Jordan hosts more than 1.3 million Syrians since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, including 661,670 Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Since 2016, the program has supported Syrian refugees to officially enter the Jordanian labor market to enable them to become self-reliant and contribute to the Jordanian economy.

According to the World Bank, the program supported the government in improving the investment climate – by improving investment promotion efforts, expanding the scope of facilitating trade activities, introducing reforms to the business licensing system, and the law on practicing professions from home, in addition to simplifying laws and procedures regulating the establishment and operation of companies – until It will be able to develop the country’s economy and be able to provide job and entrepreneurship opportunities for Jordanians and Syrian refugees.

The additional funding in 2020 will support the government in providing more flexible work permits for Syrians to reduce the informality of their work and ensure their inclusion under the umbrella of the Labor Law.

The project was scheduled to close on January 31, 2021, before the bank agreed to its new extension, as the program has recently achieved “significant progress,” especially in expanding access to digital finance (e-wallets).

An evaluation paper for the project indicated that strengthening the implementation of the project requires restructuring some activities in the next year.

The development objective of the project, according to the bank, is to improve economic opportunities for Jordanians and Syrian refugees, facilitate trade, encourage investment, especially in existing special economic zones, and sponsor entrepreneurial activities for Jordanians and Syrians.

The program also aims to support the reform agenda of the Jordanian government to develop the Jordanian economy through the investment climate and sectoral reforms, support Jordan in implementing the five-year reform matrix, and fulfill its commitments to granting Syrian refugees economic opportunities.

The kingdom