Business Scene.

... US funds JD3 million endowment to benefit KHF* Ambassador to Amman David Hale announced on Monday the establishment of a JD3 million endowment fund for the King Hussein Foundation (KHF).During a visit to the Jubilee School, one of the Foundation's initiatives, the Ambassador said the achievements of both the School and the Foundation were "truly impressive". He praised the vision of Jordan's leaders, saying "It is a vision of making Jordan truly competitive in the global marketplace. And it's a vision that appreciates that the process starts with education, that it requires giving every Jordanian the skills and the experience and the opportunities that are needed in order to make themselves truly competitive."The income generated by this endowment will be used to expand the Jubilee School Scholarship Fund for the financially-needy gifted students to cover the expenses of at least an additional twelve students.The fund will also be used to expand the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation's development programs by strengthening its existing socio-economic projects and reaching out to additional remote grassroots communities.Deputy Chairman of the KHF Board of Trustees, Adnan Badran, expressed his appreciation for the support provided by the USA."The endowment will increase institutional viability and flexibility, allowing the KHF to better dedicate resources to implementing and expanding forward-thinking programs which advance social, economic, and educational reform and assist in raising the overall quality of life in Jordan," Badran said.GEF funds three environmental projects * Three grant agreements worth $110,000 to support environmental projects by non-governmental organizations were signed at the United Nations Development Program headquarter in Amman Monday. The agreements were signed by Mona K. Hider the UNDP resident representative in Jordan and presidents of the concerned NGOs.Funded by the Global Environment Facility/Small Grants Program (GEF/SGP), the first grant will go to the Productive Village Cooperative in as-Salhiyeh Village/Wadi Rum for the implementation of the "Rehabilitation of Plant Cover surrounding as-Salhiyeh Village-Wadi Rum" project.The second grant targets al-Faisaliyeh village/ Madaba governorate, characterized by its beautiful rural nature and moderate climate in addition to its significant tourist attractions, especially for religious tourism, such as Mount Nebo, Siyagha, and al-Mkhayat, an-Noor Cooperative will implement the "Sustainable Rangeland Management in al-Faisaliyeh Area" project. The third project is in the north-eastern Jordanian Badia, and in cooperation with the Azraq Wetland Reserve managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the South Azraq Women Society for Social Development will implement a "Pilot Project for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Azraq Oasis Using Information Technology". Jordan benefited from trade agreements with Arab and foreign countries Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Haidar Murad said trade agreement that Jordan had signed with a number of Arab and foreign countries contributed to promoting economic ties, trade exchange and the flow of investments into the local market. Murad said in a statement that these agreements contributed to increasing trade exchange and Jordan's imports to these countries.Agreements that Jordan signed with other countries include the Greater Free Trade Arab Zone, the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, the Jordanian-European Association Agreement, the Free Trade Agreement with EFTA countries in Northern Europe and the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore."National exports rose by 13 percent over the first seven months of this year compared to the same periods of last year," He said, adding Jordan's exports to Arab countries also rose by 14 percent to reach JD741.3 million. Imports also rose by 23.5 percent to reach JD1.697 billion.Murad said the Free Trade Agreement with the US increased Jordan's exports to the US market last year to JD1.5 billion or 31 percent of the total of Jordan's exports. Jordan, Egypt to promote trade ties * Egypt promised to remove all obstacles that face the flow of Jordanian medicine to Egypt in accordance with the agreement that was reached last year during meetings of the joint committees in Cairo. Minister of Trade and Industry Sharif Zu'bi and his accompanying delegation have concluded a visit to Egypt during which the Minister met with a number of Egyptian officials and discussed with them ways to develop economic and trade ties. During the visit, Zu'bi and his Egyptian counterpart Rashid Muhammad underlined the necessity of activating economic cooperation and overcoming all trade obstacles, noting to the importance of benefiting from the agreements, which were signed between the two sides.The Ideal Company for Land Development doubles capital* The Ideal Company for Land Development said that it would increase its capital from JD6 million to JD12 million, by means of special appeal to the shareholders, in order to facilitate the execution of the company's upcoming projects.General Manager Omar Naber said the company will start work on an estate of villas in Dabouq on 31 dunums (31,000 square meters) of land. Twenty villas will be built at a cost of approximately JD11 million and the project will take around 2 years to complete.US awards $50 million in additional assistance to Jordan* American Ambassador David Hale and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali announced on Wednesday the signing of a $50 million grant agreement that provides supplement US assistance to Jordan. This grant completes the disbursement of an overall economic assistance package of $297.5 million from the American people to Jordan for Fiscal year 2006.Business Scene

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