(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)

Amman, July 2 (Petra) -- Planning Minister Zeina Touqan and European Commission Director General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman discussed cooperation.
According to a statement, Touqa signed two grant agreements with a total value of €25 million and EU aid to Jordan for 2023.
She said the first grant will be allocated for a €15 million project to support technical and vocational training for younger Jordanians.
The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) will implement the project activities in cooperation with Jordanian authorities, and the project will offer vocational and technical scholarships funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The second grant will be earmarked for a €10 million project to support sustainable cultural heritage to strengthen the sustainable, comprehensive and competitive tourism sector, improving livelihoods in local communities, especially for women, youth and the most affected groups and protecting archaeological sites.
The project would improve cooperation between civil society organisations, community organisations, the private sector and relevant institutions in preserving sustainable tourism heritage.
Touqan said the EU is one of Jordan's development partners to support the development and reform priorities in the Kingdom, discussing the progress of work and achievement in the modernisation and reform efforts that Jordan is moving forward with.
Touqan and Jan Koopman discussed the progress of work in the European aid programme for Jordan and the areas of cooperation for 2024-2027 that transpired to projects in education, training, vocational and technical education, tourism, public sector reform, green transformation, social protection, solid waste management and water and sanitation.
The meeting focused on opportunities to develop the partnership, the ties between Jordan and the EU and deepening trade and investment cooperation.
They discussed Jordan's challenges in hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees, urging delivering on the pledges of the Eighth Brussels Conference in light of the dwindling funding for the Jordanian response plan to the Syrian crisis.

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