In the (32) session held during December of 2011, the Supreme Council of the Arab Gulf States Cooperation Council (GCC) made the decision to allocate a grant at a total value of (5) billion USD to fund development projects in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over a five-year period. This grant is provided jointly by (The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, & Qatar); providing (1.25) billion USD each. Broad coordinative endeavors were set between the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Finance, and the General Budget Department with a view to select the projects to be submitted for funding. In this context, on 15/8/2012 projects proposed for funding covering the value of the grant were presented for the esteemed Council of the Prime Ministry, which in turn had given its approval to proceed with funding procedures. The projects proposed for funding are classified in two groups as follows: Group 1: Capital projects listed under the general budget law of 2012; at a cost of (3175) million Dollars; constituting (63.5%) of the total GCC grant. Funding such projects may contribute into reducing the budget deficit and the financial burdens faced by the government of Jordan. This will also support implementation ongoing developmental projects within all sectors, which would enable all ministries and corporations to deliver the services required thereby efficiently and effectively. Group 2: This group includes new projects listed under the Executive Developmental Project (2011 – 2013) valued at (1825) million Dollars and constituting (36.5%) of the total GCC grant. Funding such projects may assist the efforts to address the national issues within the priority sectors such as energy, water, and local development. This will enable the government of Jordan to counter the challenges pertaining to the increasing cost of imported energy , improve water supply to all governorates and achieving developmental balance among the Kingdoms governorates, especially in the least developed ones. This would also help reduce the level of unemployment through creating new job opportunities and improving the relevance of the educational system outcomes with the needs of the labor market. The Projects Funding Mechanism of the GCC Grant: - All donors were furnished with the list of proposed projects, of which the total cost is estimated at (5) billion USD, and which the Council of Ministers has approved to be submitted for funding from the GCC grant. - Donors had informed GOJ that the GCC grant would be managed through their own financing funds. Based on that the Kuwaiti grant shall be managed by the Kuwaiti fund for Arab Economic Development, the Saudi grant shall be managed by the Saudi Development Fund, and the UAE grant shall be managed by Abu Dhabi development fund, while coordination with the Qatari ministry of finance & ministry of planning in respect of their grant is underway. - As a result of the coordinative endeavors with the donors regarding the proposed projects, many of these entities expressed their interest in funding only a few manageable numbers of projects. GOJ were also told that it is necessary to consolidate small projects into one program for each sector. Other donors declared that they prefer to provide their funding in three phases. Nevertheless, all donors stressed that they do not fund any current expenditures, acquisitions, taxes or fees. - Each donor entity had identified a number of projects among the listed ones which it would like to fund. Lists of projects valued at (1.25) billion USD were prepared for each donor, including notes and comments by the respective donor. - Donors have also opted not to fund some continuous projects; as training programs or direct subsidy programs, or projects of which the implementation mechanism are in conflict with the requirements and standards of the funding entity. - Funding agreements were signed for part of the proposed projects according to the terms and standards applicable at theses funding entities, and in line with the Jordanian regulations and directives. - Procedures of signing the funding agreements for the remaining GCC grant value are underway. Mechanism of Implementing the GCC Grant: - Projects funded through the GCC grant shall be implemented according to the requirements of the donors and in line with the Jordanian regulations and directives. - New tenders documents shall be submitted to the donor to be studied and approved thereby. The technical committees reports shall be submitted as well to be studied thereby and to approve the initial referral decisions. - All funded projects shall be listed under the Budget law / Implementing Entities, to enable such entities implement these projects according to the procedure applicable therein. - All projects claims shall be disbursed to contractors, suppliers, and consultant offices; after going through the full voucher cycle and as per proper procedures; from the budget of the implementing entities, where all claims shall be audited by the audit bureau and the financial supervisory unit . - Paid claims shall be submitted to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation along with the supporting data and documents (referral decision, the signed contract/agreement, the technical committees report, the paid payment voucher). - The Ministry of Planning and International cooperation shall review the documents and prepare the withdrawal application for the donor according to the project funding. - The funding entities shall reimburse the paid amount through transfer to the treasury account after reviewing the paid claims. - The Ministry of Planning and International cooperation in conjunction with the ministry of finance and the general budget department shall manage the GCC grant and follow-up on the funding and implementation of the projects, issue the necessary reports, and coordinate with the donors to answer their inquiries, in order to expedite the implementation of the funded projects. Signed Agreements The value of projects for which funding agreements were signed had reached around (2851) million Dollars. The following is the list of agreements and memorandums of understanding which has been signed: Nine agreements to fund projects at a value of (1170) million dollars from the Kuwaiti grant, during the period 2012 – 2013. Ten agreements to fund projects at a value of (898) million Dollars from the Saudi grant, during the years 2012, 2013, and 2014. One MOU to fund the UAE projects, where the minutes of the technical committees meetings were approved on 14/5/2013 funding projects valued of (783) million Dollars. A Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Qatar was concluded on 29/9/2012.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 06:55:35 +0000
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