Day: June 1, 2022

Zarqa’s trade exports (re-exports) in May 2022 amounted to some JD11 million, said Hussein Shreim, Head of the Zarqa Chamber of Commerce (ZCC).

In a press statement on Wednesday, Shreim said these exports consisted mainly of cars, building materials, sanitary ware, medicines, foodstuffs, clothing, jewelry, electronic appliances, home and office furniture, and stationery. He added that 510 certificates of origin were issued according to ZCC’s statistics and its office in the city’s free zone.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Jordanian and German governments will host a major regional energy conference, bringing together 700 participants, including ministers, officials, and representatives of international organizations, on the Dead Sea’s shores on June 8 and 9.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Kharabsheh announced in a press release on Wednesday that the conference, which is a fruit of a Jordanian-German partnership in the energy sector, will discuss a variety of topics, including hydrogen energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electrical interconnection projects.

He added that the MENA Europe Future Energy Dialogue (MEFED) is hoped to come up with recommendations that meet the aspirations of the participants to combat climate change and secure energy supplies at reasonable prices.

The German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the Egyptian Ministers of Petroleum and Electricity, the Lebanese, Emirati, Iraqi, Belgian, and Bulgarian Ministers of Energy, the Iraqi Minister of Environment and the Czech Minister of industry and trade will participate in the conference.

The conference aims at building on the Middle East North Africa Renewable Energy Conference (MENAREC) series, whilst broadening the scope and offering new formats and fora for Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) Dialogues.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The number of active fiber Internet subscriptions had hit 355,000 by the end of the first quarter of this year against 238,000 for broadband Internet services.

According to statistics published on the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC)’s website on Wednesday, there were about 129,000 active subscriptions to ADSL internet services.

Active mobile subscriptions totaled 7.3 million, including 5.4 million prepaid and 1.9 million postpaid subscriptions. Until the end of the first quarter, 65.5 percent of the population had a mobile phone.

There were 268,000 active landline subscriptions, with 176,000 being residential and 92,000 being commercial.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Kingdom’s transportation system should be developed and modernized using best practices, according to the State of the Country Report 2021.

The Economic and Social Council’s report emphasized the need for a flexible and safe transportation system that takes into account the urbanization gradient.

In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, noise, traffic jams, and car accidents, the annual report recommended promoting biking, public transportation, and walking.

It called for long-term programs and projects aimed at financially empowering municipalities.

It called for a maintenance system for all government buildings, specifically a street maintenance plan with evaluation and priority setting.

More capital spending is needed to improve infrastructure services in urban areas to meet global standards, as well as increasing the efficiency of transportation, water, electricity, and sewage networks to keep up with population growth, according to the report.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in partnership with the Jordan National Red Crescent Society (JRCS) and the Jordan Media Institute (JMI), announced Wednesday that applications for this year’s Humanitarian Awards are now open.

First held in 2021, the Humanitarian Awards aim at encouraging the reportage on humanitarian issues in Jordan under two categories; stories and photographs published between September 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022. The closing date for entries is 7 September 2022.

Sarah Avrillaud, Head of the ICRC Delegation in Jordan says: “The ICRC’s motivation behind this competition is simply borne out of our conviction that the media in every country should pay attention to the plight of those who end up on the wrong side of a humanitarian crisis so that the reading and viewing public may be better informed. Equally important is the fact that those who make policies or decisions that could impact this category of persons would be able to take informed decisions on issues related to such affected populations.”

Mohammad al-Hadid, President of JRCS, said: “The Jordan Red Crescent supports any initiative that sheds light on the humanitarian aspects of the Jordanian society, given the belief of the JRCS in the capabilities and the power of the media and the press in making a change,” stressing that this requires motivating, supporting, and encouraging talented journalists to reflect their efforts in photographic and written materials with “a human touch,” thereby enhancing the support and the media coverage of the JRCS relief activities.

Mirna Abu Zeid, Dean of the JMI, stated: “The media, by choosing the stories, the angles, and the sources for the topics they report, can influence the course of matters and have the power to further the humanitarian agenda by shedding light on these issues.”

It is necessary, she noted, to raise journalists’ awareness of the humanitarian aspect of reporting to contribute to achieving justice. The institute’s participation in this competition is an expression of its mission and values, which place human beings as an absolute value and looks to serve their best interest, she added.

The Humanitarian Awards is envisioned as an annual event and upon receipt of entries for the 2022 edition and adjudication by an eminent panel of jurors made up of professionals in journalism and photojournalism, a formal and prestigious ceremony will be held in November 2022 at which the winners will be presented with their awards. First-place winners will win JOD 1000, while second-place winners will win JOD 750, and third-place winners will receive JOD 500.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A total of 86,322 people have visited Petra in May 2022, according to the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) statistics issued Wednesday.

The figures showed that 60,640 people of last month’s visitors were of foreign nationalities, while Arab and Jordanian nationalities amounted to 25,670 visitors. In comparison to May 2019, a total of 87,622 people visited the city, 81,268 of which were foreigners and 4,873 were Arabs and Jordanians.

Suliman Farajat, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the PDTRA, said the red-rose city witnessed an active tourism movement last May, adding that the current number of visitors is closer to the 2019 figures reported, meaning that the tourism sector is recovering from the fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The PDTRA will keep pace with the increasing number of tourists and offer the best services for its visitors to maintain the city’s heritage and global tourism value, he added.

He said that demands for adding more hotel rooms to the existing 2,600 in the city are increasing, as Petra has investment incentives in the fields of tourism and light industry, adding that 10 new hotels with a 900-room capacity are being constructed and will provide 500 job opportunities once they are fully operational.

The authority, he noted, has signed agreements to provide more tourism products, such as the flying taxi and hot air balloons.

Several projects will be launched this year in the red-rose city, including a heritage village, tourism road, visitors center, air ferry, and adventure vehicles.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A Jordanian-Romanian economic forum will kick off next September on the sidelines of the Jordanian-Romanian Business Council meetings, the Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) announced Wednesday.

In a statement released after discussions between the JBA’s Member of the Board of Directors Abdul Halim Abdin and President of the Romanian-Jordanian Economic Cooperation Association (RJECA) Radu Bogdan Bano, the JBA stressed enhancing economic relations between the two countries and networking between the Jordanian and Romanian business communities.

Abdin and Bogdan Bano discussed establishing joint projects and organizing the second edition of the Jordanian-Romanian Joint Business Council.

Abdin underscored the importance of cooperation and coordination, especially in trade and investment, to up the level of bilateral ties, highlighting a number of investment opportunities in the industries of foodstuffs, agriculture, fertilizers, transportation, communication, and information technology.

He underscored the need to introduce the Romanian private sector to Jordan’s investment opportunities, incentives, and benefits offered by free and development zones, as well as exemptions under the Jordanian investment law. He also called for increasing trade exchange and expanding import and export, underlining many untapped export opportunities.

For his part, Bogdan Bano underlined the importance of forging economic partnerships and benefiting from the deep-rooted ties in various fields, urging Jordanian business people to visit Bucharest and look first-hand at investment opportunities.

The Jordanian-Romanian economic forum aims at boosting cooperation between the two countries’ business communities in the food and construction industries, he indicated.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Hashemite custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem is “the protective shield” to safeguard these sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque from Israeli and hardline settlers’ practices, Secretary-General of Popular National Conference For Jerusalem (PNCJ), Maj.-Gen. Bilal Natsheh, said.

In his interview with “Petra” in Ramallah on Wednesday, Natsheh noted Jordan-run Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem is “more targeted than ever by the Israeli occupation authorities, which are working to restrict its work to provide its services in Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

In addition, he said Israel is arresting the department’s employees and preventing their restoration and maintenance of all Jerusalem’s holy yards.

To continue its services, he urged support to the department due to its “remarkable” role in serving and protecting Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Over the past years, he noted the Hashemite custodianship has preserved Jerusalem’s sanctities from the temporal and spatial division and countered all the Israeli racist schemes.

His Majesty King Abdullah II’s direct interest in the daily violations and incursions at Al-Aqsa and his efforts with all Arab, regional and international sides had a “key” role in ending the Israeli attacks, he pointed out.

Commending Jordan’s role for its support aimed to enhance Jerusalemites’ steadfastness at all levels and in various fields, he called on all Arab and Islamic nations to follow the Kingdom’s example in defending the occupied city of Jerusalem and its Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Source: Jordan News Agency

A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), headed by its Deputy Director, Hua Liu, was briefed on the tasks and objectives of Jordan’s National Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases Centre (NEIDC).

In a press statement on Wednesday, the centre said the IAEA delegation was acquainted with its goals and tasks, which seek to enhance public health practices in the field of preventing and countering pandemics and communicable diseases.

The centre’s mission also includes countering terrorist and biological threats, as well as promoting sound health and environmental behaviors, and monitoring health and ecological threats and ensuring multisectoral coordination, the statement added.

During the visit, Hua Liu highlighted the IAEA’s scope of work with health authorities, and the agency’s support provided to Jordan’s Ministry of Health.

Discussions, Liu noted, went over ways of joint cooperation between the two bodies, especially in the field of raising awareness about health risks and cooperation to deal with radioactive substances.

This cooperation also aims to enhance the workers’ capabilities in the prevention field, which is part of the center’s tasks and role in raising awareness and following up on the implementation of preventive measures, Liu added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Access to a modern educational system is a basic foundation to build a prosperous future, which has become important to recognize challenges and make efforts to overcome them, Lower House Speaker, Adul Karim Doghmi, said.

Addressing a ceremony to launch a document on Education Development in the Arab world under the slogan “Bahrain the gateway to the development of education in the Arab world,” Doghmi noted building human capabilities comes by implementing a sound and effective educational system.

This goal, he noted, requires educational investments, providing an incubating environment, integrating the latest educational methods, and embracing curricula that stimulate deep and critical thinking and promote a culture of diversity and dialogue.

The conference, organized by the Arab Parliament (AP) and Ministry of Education of Bahrain, comes in line with the AP’s role and its efforts to engage in various files and fields of interest to the Arab citizen, especially the education sector, he pointed out.

Doghmi said the document’s axes focus on education as a pillar to make progress, based on the Arab nation’s historical and civilizational heritage and efforts to keep pace with scientific and technological development to establish high-quality Arab educational systems to prepare future generations and contribute to achieving development and social justice.

Locally, he said Jordan’s Constitution ensures basic, mandatory education provided free in government schools.

Noting development of Jordan’s educational process, he said the Kingdom realized early the importance of education as a tool to build human capabilities, in an effort to work on improving the citizens’ quality of life, enhancing level of job performance, increasing their productivity, raising their income level, and supplying the labor market with trained and qualified technical workers.

He also lauded Bahrain’s “remarkable” development in the educational field, adding that the conference opens prospects to advance education in the Arab world.

Source: Jordan News Agency