Capacity Building

Trade and Transport Facilitation is a relatively new endeavor in Jordan. It follows that members of the technical committee along with the staff of the executive secretariat are engaging in training and capacity-building, which includes formal training, study tours, learning-by-doing and on-the-job training.
A comprehensive training plan was developed for the period 2012-2014, which covers all Ministry of Transport staff, executive secretariat staff, members of the technical committee and some staff members of the Land Transport Regulatory Commission.
During 2011, two study tours on good practices were performed and staff members of the executive secretariat participated in the “learning-by-doing” event organized and delivered by key experts. Topics addressed in the event included:

• Elements and development of sound transport policy
• Development and planning of transport strategy
• Development of Key Performance Indexes (KPIs)
• Transport data collection and manipulation
• Development and estimation of a transport-oriented model
• The use of statistical software for model estimation
• The contribution of the transport sector to GDP
• Trade and transport facilitation concepts
• Logistics Performance Index (LPI)
• Logistical chains

The long-term goal is for stakeholders to regularly participate in regional workshops and on study tours to update their information and coordinate with other stakeholders.

Training

In an attempt to address lack of expertise in modern transport, logistics and infrastructure, as well as technological connections with neighbouring countries, the Jordanian government has sought to strengthen the staff capacity of the organisations involved in Trade and Transport Facilitation (TTF) – the MoT and affiliated bodies, the National Committee of TTF, the Technical Committee of TTF as well as the Executive Secretariat for TTF.  Hence a comprehensive multi-disciplinary capacity building and training program was formulated and delivered to enhance expertise in TTF.  While the overall objective of the program is to strengthen competencies in the field of trade and transport based on best practice as identified by the EU, the UN and the World Bank Group, the specific purposes are to enable Jordanian manpower to render expert services in public administrations and in private companies, and also to enable job seekers to find employment.  An Initial Training Program (ITP) was developed for the MoT and participants from TC TTF member organisations. The understanding over launching the ITP was to execute training for the target groups identified within the MoT and among the stakeholders of the TC TTF.  A report was issued on initial training containing all project-related training activities planned and implemented during 2011, apart from the study tours that were executed. Reports on the individual study tours were submitted shortly after its execution in July and December 2011 and are available already, separate from the ITP report. A Bridge Training Program (BTP) was developed to cover the time between the end of the ITP and the start of a Long-Term Comprehensive Training Program (LTCTP), whose implementation will begin in earnest in September 2013 Since the launch date of the LTCTP had not been certain, the BTP had to be introduced and made flexible.  Under the BTP, training sessions were prepared and executed addressing specific TTF-related problems and best practice recommendations of international agencies and groups. Specific training sessions addressed relevant topics and attended by participants from various public sector departments.

Long-Term Comprehensive Training Program (LTCTP)

After completion of the Bridge Training the LTCTP was expected to resume. The LTCTP was scheduled for October 2012 until 2014. But that did not happen, and now an agreement was signed in February 2013 to implement the program with a coalition of Spain's ALG and Jordan's Bayan Consultants in September 2013.