Amman, Oct. 11 (Petra) — A total of 280 micro and small industrial
enterprises qualified for specialized training and technical
mentoring under the “Entrepreneurship in Industry” program after
passing administrative and financial verification, the Ministry of
Industry, Trade and Supply said.

In its statement Sunday, the ministry said the three-day training
aims to help the benficiary enterprises prepare development plans,
based on scientific principles and the best global practices.

The ministry said this would boost these projects’ “competitiveness,
create sustainable jobs for Jordanians and raise their chances of
winning the program’s grants.”

Scheduled to run in several governorates and locations, training will
be held in coordination with chambers of industry to ensure smooth
participation of beneficiary enterprises.

A five-week specialized technical mentoring program will follow, the
ministry said, as individual sessions for each enterprise to identify
its needs and help it prepare a plan suited to its business and
priorities.

Twenty specialized trainers and mentors, qualified by the ministry in
cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation
(GIZ) and Beyond Consulting, will deliver the training and mentoring
activities.

After completing both phases, participating enterprises will access
the application platform, amend their initial technical applications
and resubmit versions in final form. Program evaluators will then
conduct a final technical assessment and field visits to select the
grant winners.

The ministry received 639 online applications in July and August and
assessed the eligibility of applicants.

In its first round, the program aims to provide 120 non-refundable
grants to winning micro and small enterprises and 30 grants to
medium-sized enterprises. Each grant ranges from JD25,000 to
JD100,000, and the program will cover 70 to 80 percent of project
costs.

The ministry said 40 percent of the grants are earmarked for
enterprises outside Amman. The German government funds the grants,
and the program is implemented through the German KfW Development
Bank.

Program results are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The
final technical evaluation and signing of agreements with winning
enterprises are expected early next year.

//Petra// NQ