Jordan seeks membership in European development bank to benefit from funding

AMMAN (JT) – The government on Wednesday said it had officially applied to become a member in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in a bid to receive support for the ongoing democratic reforms.

In a letter sent to EBRD President Thomas Mirow, acting Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mohammad Najjar said over the past year, Jordan sought to accelerate measures to strengthen its democratic governance.

“The government believes that the EBRD can play an important role in promoting and sustaining this important process,” Najjar added, as quoted by an EBRD statement, confirmed by ministry officials.

The EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, provides support for the development of market economies and democracies in countries from Central Europe to Central Asia.

With the request, Jordan joined Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia in seeking to become a country in which the EBRD invests. These four states are the target of support under the “Deauville Partnership”, launched under the French presidency of the G-8 in May this year to help promote the historic changes under way in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa, EBRD said in the statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times yesterday.

EBRD shareholders are currently considering an extension of the EBRD’s geographic mandate to include the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, according to the statement.

If shareholders agree to this move – a step that would need unanimous approval by all EBRD shareholders – the bank would aim especially to help promote the development of the private sector, the area where it traditionally provides the bulk of its investments, the bank said.

After an initial build-up period, the EBRD would have the capital capacity to invest up to 2.5 billion euros a year in emerging Arab democracies without seeking additional funds from shareholders, the statement added.

jordantimes