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Jordan to get 2.1 billion USD in grants amid refugee crisis: minister

Xinhua, February 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Jordan has secured 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in grants from international donors, which will help reduce its pressure from an increasing influx of Syrian refugees, officials said Saturday.

The aid pledges were made during an international donor conference held in London last week, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Emad Fakhoury said in a press statement.

He added that out of the 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, which will be paid over three years, about 1.5 billion would be allocated for investments in the country's host communities.

Jordan is home to 1.3 million Syrians, according to the national census announced by the Department of Statistics earlier this month.

The aid will enable Jordan to attract new investments, which will help create new jobs for Jordanians, and, at the same time, re-organize the local labour market that has been regressing in the past few years because of the illegal and irregular Syrian labour, Fakhoury said.

Under the plan, the irregular labour would be legalized and organized more efficiently. They will be allowed to work in sectors that do not harm the Jordanian labour. Endit