Amman, Nov. 16 (Petra) – The Cabinet, meeting on Sunday under Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, approved the annual cash-support grant agreement with the United States government to transfer $845 million as direct budget support to the Treasury for 2025.

The annual grant reflects the strategic partnership between Jordan and the United States and the respect Jordan enjoys, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, in Washington. The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation to sign the grant agreement on behalf of the government.

Separately, the Cabinet approved a zero customs duty and a 16% sales tax on the contents of postal parcels whose customs value does not exceed JD 200. The measure aims to stimulate domestic spending, ensure fair competition between local traders and foreign sellers, and boost commercial activity in the local market.

The Cabinet also endorsed the Customs Tariff Council’s recommendation to amend tariff schedules in support of Jordanian industries, enabling expansion and ensuring fair competition between domestic and imported products. The decision includes adjusting tariffs on imports that have local alternatives to protect national industry while excluding food products with no domestic alternative, in addition to exempting all clothing and children’s supplies.

Officials noted that 91% of all imports are already exempt from customs duties, either because they are industrial inputs or because they originate from countries with free trade agreements with Jordan, including Arab states, the EU, the United States and Canada. All production inputs are exempt from customs duties to reduce costs for domestic industries.

For imported goods whose customs duties were amended, the adjustment introduced reduced tariff rates ranging between 5% and 10%, whereas before 2023 these goods had been subject to 20%–30% duties.

The step follows earlier government measures supporting domestic industries, including freezing a previous decision to reduce the 25% customs category on certain food, engineering, construction and furniture products; applying zero tax on many industrial inputs under the Investment Environment Law; and revising the electricity-connection rules funded by the "Fils Al-Reef" tariff to support new and expanding industries. Further incentives were granted to new industrial projects in the Al-Hussein Development Area in Karak and the Tafileh Industrial Estate, including reduced land prices, extended labor-support periods, lower electricity tariffs, and handling incentives at Aqaba Port.

The government has also begun measures to reduce energy costs in industrial cities, such as supplying natural gas to the Zarqa Industrial Estate and launching a gas supply station for factories in the southern industrial zone in Aqaba.

The Cabinet approved the settlement of 719 outstanding cases between taxpayers and the Income and Sales Tax Department, in line with recommendations from the competent committee. The step is part of ongoing efforts to help businesses and investors regularize their tax status and sustain their economic activities.

Regarding social services for teachers, the Cabinet approved the mandating reasons for the draft Teachers’ Clubs Regulation for 2025, prior to its referral to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau. The regulation coincides with the government’s work to upgrade teachers’ club facilities at a cost of JD 3 million and expand their number in underserved governorates. It also updates the 1995 regulation to reflect legal, social and economic changes.

The draft aims to improve services for teachers, extend benefits to staff in licensed private educational institutions and retirees, reduce club membership fees, and formalize the institutional relationship between the Ministry of Education and teachers’ clubs through a central committee overseeing support and supervision. It introduces governance measures, including financial auditing by the Audit Bureau and application of government procurement and financial regulations to ensure transparency and sound management.

The government highlighted recent support to teachers, including disbursing all emergency loans, doubling the royal scholarship quota for teachers’ children in higher education from 5% to 10%, allocating 5% of Student Support Fund grants and loans to children of teachers, doubling Hajj mission quotas from 60 to 120, and maintaining and expanding teachers’ clubs.

The Cabinet also approved the Staff Regulation of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) for 2025 to regulate human resources and retirement, align GAM with national civil service and retirement rules, strengthen executive management, and create a competitive, accountable environment that encourages excellence.

The Cabinet endorsed the mandating reasons for the draft amended Civil Aviation Fees Regulation for 2025, to be forwarded for approval. The amendments introduce licensing rules for unmanned aircraft (drones), revise the names of technical directorates at the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, and address areas not covered in the current regulation.

The changes are intended to enhance operational efficiency, support sustainable infrastructure development, harmonize fees across airports, and reflect technological advances in air navigation systems. They include coverage of previously uncharged services such as runway lighting in special operations, reducing distortions between airlines, and establishing incentives for regional, light and recreational aviation.

For the first time, the regulation introduces clear frameworks for organizing drone, glider and recreational aviation activities; strengthens transparency by linking fees to technical effort and man-hours; and enhances the sector’s ability to attract investment, supporting Jordan’s position as a regional aviation hub.

In the energy sector, the Cabinet amended a 2019 decision on strategic minerals to include helium classified as a high-value resource among rare earth minerals. It approved a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and Hotspur Helium to explore helium in the Dead Sea region. This marks the first time Jordan has attracted a company to explore this resource. Helium, whose price is several times that of natural gas, is used in cooling and precision industries.

The Cabinet approved a draft law endorsing the executive agreement for evaluating, developing and exploiting gold and associated minerals in the Abu Khsheiba area, in partnership with Wadi Araba Mining Company. The law complies with Article 117 of the Constitution and the Natural Resources Law, which require agreements on mineral exploitation to be ratified by law. The agreement aims to promote investment in mining, support economic growth, develop local communities, create jobs, strengthen the competitiveness of local products, and reduce reliance on traditional sources.

In local administration projects, the Cabinet authorized the Ministry of Local Administration to proceed with priority projects not exceeding JD 10 million, funded through savings from decentralized governorate projects at the end of 2025. The projects include paving agricultural roads, rehabilitating roads within municipal boundaries, implementing stormwater drainage, completing ongoing tenders lacking funding, purchasing waste-management machinery and containers, contracting private companies for sanitation services, developing e-services, digitizing planning maps, and implementing planning projects in Ajloun, downtown Karak and the Phosphate Hills project.

The Cabinet approved the Second National Strategy for Media and Information Literacy for 2026–2029, prepared by the Ministry of Government Communication and the Jordan Media Institute, with support from UNESCO. The strategy reinforces national efforts to counter fake news, disinformation, rumors and hate speech, aiming to build a digitally literate and information-aware society that strengthens public trust and inclusion in the digital era. Jordan is considered a regional leader in media literacy and hosted the 2024 Global Media and Information Literacy Week.

The strategy covers six areas: governance; capacity building; integration into national education systems; awareness and lifelong learning; media literacy cities; and financing and sustainability. Measures include forming a national team, appointing liaison officers in ministries, building a civil society network, and studying the creation of a national center in partnership with the Jordan Media Institute.

The Cabinet also approved a memorandum of understanding between Jordan’s National Cybersecurity Center and Qatar’s National Cybersecurity Agency to enhance cooperation through information exchange, training, policy development and best practices. It further approved an MoU on agricultural cooperation with Yemen covering both plant and animal sectors.

//Petra// AF