Jordan Times
Thursday, July 14, 2005
US official tours Irbid
Governorate
AMMAN (JT) — US Charge d'Affaires David Hale on Wednesday toured various
facilities in Irbid Governorate starting with the Century Miracle Garments
Factory at Al Hassan Industrial Estate. The factory, a Qualified Industrial Zone
(QIZ) exporter, employs some 1,200 Jordanian workers.
Century Miracle General Manager Rami Qusus took the US envoy on a tour of the
factory and the showroom, where he saw examples of garments the factory can
export under the US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement and the QIZ initiative.
Hale then met with Irbid Mayor Waleed Masri and discussed with him cooperation
and issues of mutual interest, according to a statement released by the US
embassy in Amman.
The US official also met with a group of 30 new Peace Corps volunteers who
recently arrived in Jordan to work in the areas of teaching English as a foreign
language, special education, and youth and community development.
Hale continued his tour of the governorate by visiting the Academic
Entrepreneurship Centre of Excellence at the Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering
Technology in Yarmouk University.
The centre, which was established in 2004 to promote creativity and innovation
in the field of applied ICT, is co-funded by the Higher Education Development
Fund and the USAID-funded AMIR Programme through the Information Technology
Association of Jordan (int@j). Amjad Fahoum, the centre's director, briefed the
US envoy on the collaboration between the university and IT firms to provide
Yarmouk students with practical training and job opportunities.
On the last leg of his tour, Hale visited two business owners in Irbid, who have
benefited from the USAID-funded microfinance programme: Tareq Batayneh, owner of
a dry-cleaning shop near Irbid's old bus station, and Hind Athamneh, a plant
nursery shop owner.
Through a JD1,000 loan from the Jordan MicroCredit Company, 26-year-old Batayneh
was able to start and develop his own dry-cleaning business. The income
generated from his growing business helps him support his family and assist in
taking care of daily expenses.
Hale and accompanying US embassy officials, including USAID Mission Director in
Jordan Anne Aarnes, then visited Athamneh's plant nursery. Through an initial
JD300 micro-loan from the Middle East Micro Credit Company, Athamneh started a
small plant nursery, buying seedlings, growing them, and then selling them, the
statement said.
As her nursery grew, she decided to apply for two more micro-loans to buy the
needed equipment to produce rather than buy plants. Today, Athamneh is running a
successful business, which has contributed to a better standard of living for
her family in terms of improving their home, providing education and medical
care for her children, and satisfying the family's daily needs.