The Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation, JEDCO, launched today in cooperation with the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan the Jordan National Report according to the Global Enterpreneurship Monitor (GEM),  which implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) ".

 

In his speech, Dr. Al-Hamouri indicated the keenness of the successive Jordanian governments to enhance Jordan's economic competitiveness, as they took serious steps to enhance Enterpreneurship through its various institutions, and today is an example of what JEDCO is doing through the launch of the Jordan national Report about Entrepreneurship for 2019/2020 which is not only an added value to JEDCO, but also  for all partners concerned with Enterpreneurship, development and growth within a participatory process.

 

Al-Hamouri added that the importance of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report is reflected in the Jordanian government's awareness, through its various institutions, in adopting the National Entrepreneurship Reports as a pioneering global study aimed at improving the understanding of entrepreneurship and promoting evidence-based supportive policies and programs, as this was reflected positively and clearly in Jordan has advanced in 2019, ranking 34th globally in the early stage entrepreneurship activity index, to about (9.1%), while this index reached about (8.2%) and ranked 46th globally in 2017.

 

Minister of Enterpreneurship and Digital Economy, Eng. Muthanna Al-Gharaibeh explained in a speech that the main objective of this study was to assess the current situation of entrepreneurship and to provide recommendations to decision-makers from the stakeholders that could be translated into strategic shifts or interventions in policies related to entrepreneurship, so that it was not possible to do this better than non-objective evidence-based indicators resulting from in-depth analytical studies.

 

Al-Gharaibeh added that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship was recently established "to support entrepreneurship and innovation in Jordan" comes from a belief in the importance of entrepreneurship and creativity and the need to provide the needed support and to encourage creative ideas and creative talents, as they have a major role in achieving sustainable development.

 

The report consists of two parts: The first was a survey of a sample of 2,000 people representing all the governorates of the Kingdom about their approaches towards entrepreneurship during 2019-2020.

 

The second part was a survey of thirty-six local experts on the availability of a convenient environment to promote entrepreneurship in Jordan; which includes funding, government programs and policies, education, training, research and development, commercial structure, opening of domestic markets, physical structure, culture and social habits.

 

JEDCO's CEO, Dr. Bashar Al-Zoubi, said that the report includes a wide range of information on various aspects such as existing and new businesses, the main factors that could encourage the start of new entrepreneurship in Jordan, and the main obstacles that affect the decision to establish new businesses in Jordan.

 

Dr. Al-Zoubi emphasized that the results of the experts ’evaluation in the national report focused on entrepreneurship financing, which focused on financing options available to entrepreneurs in Jordan, from capital assessment and debt financing, to investment capital, and ending with informal investments.

 

Dr. Al-Zoubi added that the report focused on attracting new investments, reforming economic policies and related legislation, and creating programs that enhance support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to change the business environment in Jordan to ensure that serious government steps are taken in promoting entrepreneurship. It also included in the report an evaluation of government programs during In 2019, there was very clear progress in evaluating the available number of government programs that support new and growing businesses, with the total progress made on the entrepreneurship framework (4.51) points compared to (3.70) points during 2017.

 

Dr. Bernd Kuzmits, Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, said that the German government believes in the importance of implementing the study for its contribution to supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Jordan. As a global tool for benchmarking countries in the field of entrepreneurship, the GEM will assist decision-makers in Jordan in making the right decisions in the field of entrepreneurship. In the long term, we hope that this initiative will enable institutions in Jordan to provide the necessary information and data for creating a suitable business and investment environment in all regions of the Kingdom, he added.

 

 Prof. Dr. Zaid Eyadat, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, stressed that this joint cooperation with JEDCO is not the first time, but rather there was cooperation in implementing the Entrepreneurship Report that was launched in 2017, and the Center looks forward to strengthening this cooperation in other research fields.

 

Dr. Eyadat added that the reports and raw data will be available on the websites of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO), and the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS), which will allow interested researchers to examine the various aspects of entrepreneurship activity in Jordan.