Siyaha supports 400 local handicraft producers – Jordan
Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Jordan
(MENAFN – Jordan Times) AMMAN (JT) — Siyaha has extended a grant of $78,869 to the Jordan Handicraft Producers Association (JHPA) in a bid to develop the sector and improve the quality of merchandise.
The USAID-funded grant will also support training workshops to develop handicraft skills and products to meet the needs of the tourism sector. It will also fund the launching of a national handicraft awareness campaign to encourage tourists and visitors to purchase genuine handicrafts.
The grant was officially awarded at a ceremony held this week at Wild Jordan in the presence of Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Osama Dabbas and Minister of Culture Adel Tweisi.
Despite the significance of handicrafts, which give tourists a glimpse into Jordan’s culture, the sector still faces many challenges.
“The relatively high cultural and technical costs of the product, coupled with a lack of comprehensive knowledge and awareness of similar products available worldwide on the part of producing companies are negatively impacting the ability of Jordanian products to compete with imported products, or even to succeed in marketing their own,” said Tweisi.
Siyaha has been active in supporting JHPA to develop a strategy and work plan for 2007-2009 based on the association’s vision to be the voice of a connected and supported community of Jordanian handicraft producers, advocating for visibility, quality production standards and favourable regulations.
Commenting on the importance of handicrafts to Jordan’s tourism sector, Dabbas said: “Handicrafts are a unique reflection of a country’s culture, heritage and history, and are thus a vital part of Jordan’s tourism industry. It is important to support efforts to develop the local handicraft.”
Other activities under the grant include marketing and promotion of JHPA member products and services, establishing links and facilitating networking between handicrafters and the tourism sector, developing and implementing a national handicrafts classification system, building the capacity of JHPA to better serve its members and upgrading the association’s showroom.
Raed Badri, chairman of JHPA, said: “Today represents an important step for the handicraft sector, which in the past has been overlooked. The grant will… bring quality up to international standards, promoting them better and ultimately creating greater job opportunities in this field.”
The three-year USAID/ Siyaha Project (2005-2008) supports the implementation of the National Tourism Strategy (2004-2010) (NTS), launched in 2004, that aims to double Jordan’s tourism economy by 2010.