"Reform of the enabling business environment"- Assessment of the sector budget support programme third, fourth and fifth tranches

The EU Support to the Private Sector Development in Jordan programme aims to contribute to Government efforts to strengthen the economic competitiveness of the private sector. It seeks to promote the development of innovative sectors and markets that are relevant in a green and low-carbon economy, notably education services, green technologies and creative industries, whilst also upgrading the competitiveness and sustainability of more traditional sectors. EU support is aligned with Government strategy. The Government's new national strategy, set out in the "Jordan 2025" (also known as the "2025 Economic Blueprint" and "Vision 2025"), as well as existing small-to-medium sized enterprise and employment strategies, emphasizes private sector development (PSD) as the key driver of increased competitiveness, employment, inclusive growth and for strengthening the tax base and increasing exports. A combined set of modalities is used to implement it. This involves budget support in the form of a Sector Reform Contract "Reform of the enabling business environment" and project modalities to provide direct support for capacity building in the private sector. The present project's objective is to assess the progress in meeting the set targets under the third, fourth and fifth tranches of the Sector Budget Support programme "Reform of the Enabling Business Environment" and to advice the EU Delegation on the release of the payments attributed to the results. More specifically: To collect all compliance documents concerning the achievement of the specific reform benchmarks; To analyse factually the conformity of the compliance documentation obtained with the specifications and requirements defined in the Technical and Administrative Provisions (TAPs) and ascertain whether the benchmarks are met; To analyse whether the public policy eligibility criteria continues to be satisfied; To contribute to maintain a high level of clarity, and a shared understanding by all stakeholders, regarding the steps required to ensure that the benchmarks are met.