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
