JORDAN – Aiming to create 100,000 new jobs for Jordanians and Syrian refugees in the next five years, the World Bank’s Board of Directors has agreed to offer Jordan US$100 million in financing at rates usually reserved for the poorest countries, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced today.
The World Bank’s Board extended the highly unusual financing offer because of the extraordinarily difficult situation facing both the refugees and their Jordanian hosts. A partnership among the Jordanian government, donor countries and development actors will use the financing to develop and strengthen existing special economic zones to attract international and domestic investments. Additional details of the job-creation plans will be announced in coming months.
The announcement was made during a joint visit by Kim and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The visit reaffirms the global commitment to help address the impact of the Syria crisis through immediate humanitarian assistance and long-term development support. The focus of the visit is to find innovative solutions that begin to address the severe economic and social stresses resulting from the influx of refugees, including shoring up basic services and creating job opportunities for Syrian refugees and Jordanians alike.
“The Jordanian government has done an exceptional job in helping to meet the challenges posed by the large flows of refugees,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, who was visiting Jordan for the second time in two years. “It is now up to the international community to do more to help Jordan – and provide it with the innovative financing it needs to continue hosting refugees. It’s also important for Jordan to enact necessary reforms that will attract investments needed for the economy to grow and provide shared prosperity for all Jordanians.”
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