Jordan Times
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
Business Development
Centre to continue the operations of JUSBP
Senior management will not change when the JUSBP passes the torch in October,
but the BDC will be entirely Jordanian-owned
By Melanie Jacobson
AMMAN — The Kingdom’s new Business Development Centre (BDC), the project-
successor of the Jordan- United States Business Partnership (JUSBP), was
officially launched at an annual JUSBP reception Monday.
The BDC will not become fully operational until October, when the mandate of the
$27 million USAID-funded small-and-medium size enterprise (SME) development
programme, the JUSBP, ends and the BDC takes over.
However, the centre has already begun offering some services to the local
business community, including fostering financial linkages and encouraging best
practices for SMEs at the first annual Business Development Services Conference
in April.
Senior management will not change when the JUSBP passes the torch in October,
but the BDC will be entirely Jordanian-owned. The centre will rely on local
service providers, volunteers and American consultants to provide its services.
The BDC will continue the work of the JUSBP with the aim of “increasing the
competitiveness of Jordanian SMEs and insuring the probability of better
employment opportunities through the creation of export markets and enhanced
human resource capabilities,” BDC CEO Nayef Stetieh said at the reception.
Stetieh announced several initiatives devised by the BDC itself, including the
new “Maharat” (skills) internship programme and a pointed effort to increase the
competitiveness of women-owned businesses.
The centre also plans to establish a national volunteer centre for economic
development that will facilitate the transfer of skills and expertise locally.
In November, Stetieh indicated, the BDC will present its new Export Achievement
Award to encourage global outreach and fair competition while honouring success.
Established in 1999, the JUSBP is a programme operated by the International
Executive Service Corps, a non-profit US private volunteer organisation
headquartered in Washington, DC. Whereas the JUSBP functioned on a temporary
basis, the BDC will be providing its services “well into the future,” without
direct US support, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires David Hale said.
The US ranked as Jordan’s top export market in 2003, representing 31 per cent of
total Jordanian exports worldwide, Industry and Trade Minister Sharif Zu’bi told
the audience.
“The JUSBP played an important role in upgrading industry,” along with improving
market access and supporting the development of the King Abdullah II Award for
Excellence, Zu’bi said. The Industrial Development Directorate of the Ministry
of Industry of Trade is the JUSBP’s counterpart organisation, and will continue
to play a helping role in the BDC.
One of the JUSBP’s primary functions, helping Jordanian SMEs tap the US market,
was illustrated when two clients that had received JUSBP assistance delivered
testimonials at the reception.
Stetieh and JUSBP Director of Trade and Development Maha Shawareb received
awards at the reception.