Jordan and Germany Partner to Boost 20 SMEs in Creative Industries
Jordan’s National Fund for Enterprise Support and the German Agency for International Cooperation, known as GIZ, have signed an agreement to support around 20 small businesses working in jewelry, filmmaking, and e-sports and gaming.
The agreement was signed by Higher Council for Science and Technology Secretary-General Mashhoor Refai and GIZ Project Lead Elisaveta Kostova, establishing a joint support pathway for small and medium-sized enterprises. It aligns with Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision, which aims to drive sustainable growth, expand job opportunities and strengthen private-sector competitiveness. According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, creative industries and film production locations are among eight national growth drivers identified under that vision’s roadmap.
Refai said the agreement establishes a new era of cooperation with GIZ, according to Petra, aimed at creating a dynamic, supportive business environment that helps small businesses turn challenges into sustainable success.
Under the first phase of the program, the National Fund for Enterprise Support will assess participating companies’ capacity for innovation and provide specialized technical advice to help them prepare for expansion. Companies that meet the required criteria will then move into a second phase, where they can be referred for direct financial support. The program will prioritize women-led and women-owned businesses, along with companies that employ people with disabilities, as part of a broader push to widen access to business support.
Kostova pointed to the potential of Jordan’s cultural and creative industries to drive export growth, while Executive Director Moath Alaween said linking technical readiness directly to national funding streams would give young enterprises end-to-end support.
Jordan’s business landscape is overwhelmingly made up of small enterprises. A 2018 business census cited in a GIZ-backed financial inclusion study counted 167,519 active enterprises, of which 166,638, or 99.5 percent, were micro, small or medium-sized businesses. Micro enterprises with one to four employees made up 89.7 percent of all businesses, while small companies accounted for 8 percent and medium-sized firms just 1.7 percent. Jordan’s unemployment rate stood at 21.4 percent in 2024, with youth unemployment at 46.6 percent and female labor-force participation at just 18.7 percent, according to the EBRD’s Jordan Country Strategy 2025-2030.
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