AMMAN — US Ambassador Henry T. Wooster hosted HRH
Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan and a delegation from the Royal Scientific
Society (RSS), Princess Sumaya University for Technology (
PSUT), iPARK, and the
Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE) to mark the launch of a grant
funded by the public affairs section of the US embassy, the embassy said in a
statement.
اضافة اعلان
The grant will
be spent on a project focused on helping Jordanian entrepreneurs build their
capacity, and expand to the US market.
“The robust
discussion of science and technology highlighted the strength of US-Jordan
scientific and economic cooperation,” the statement said. It said Wooster
lauded the bilateral relationship, saying: “Our interests are extraordinarily
the same.”
He underscored
the importance of private sector growth for economic strength, and praised the
success of iPark’s and QRCE’s programs as “a testament to the vital role
entrepreneurship plays in promoting economic growth”.
Princess Sumaya
said relations between Washington and Amman “served as a model for fostering
equality, friendship, and collaboration across nations of varying sizes,
socioeconomic systems, and cultural backgrounds.”
The princess
shared the need for science diplomacy, characterizing “science as a bridge for
peace.” She expressed interest in
furthering an already robust program of US-Jordan scientific and academic
cooperation.
El Hassan
Science City is an umbrella organization that nurtures the entrepreneurial
spirit in all its member institutions: The RSS, PSUT, and the iPARK. The
synergy between the three complementary entities has not only served to
strengthen each of them individually, but also resulted in numerous academic,
research, and business initiatives, according to the statement.
The RSS was
founded in 1970 by His Majesty the late King Hussein and HRH Prince El Hassan,
and is an umbrella organization for iPARK and QRCE.
PSUT, one of
El-Hassan Scientific City’s three member institutions, enjoys a prestigious
reputation as a pioneering university in the fields of engineering, IT, and
business technology, according to the embassy statement. It said PSUT is
internationally accredited and has academic cooperation agreements with
colleges in the US, including the University of Arizona, Tucson,
Colorado State University, the University of Michigan, Oakland University, and Indiana
University.
iPark was
established in 2003, and has since graduated over 300 start-ups, including a
clean technology startup which installs solar charging stations for electric
vehicles, launched by a Jordanian-American, who brought back expertise learned
in the US. iPARK has continuously
benefited from various USAID funded projects, such as SABEQ and JCP, that has
helped it in expanding and growing its operations.
Princess Sumaya
said the event “is the culmination of a productive collaboration with the US
embassy through the program ‘Touchdown,’ which will assist and support
Jordanian high-growth start-ups in evaluating, making validated decisions, and
navigating the
US market by providing participating start-ups with structured
capacity building, detailed assessment, mentorship sessions, and connections to
relevant US local partners.”
This entrepreneurship
grant with the RSS advances private sector growth — through training 60
high-growth start-ups across Jordan’s governorates and selecting the 16 best to
fund and take to the US to help access and expand into the US market, deepening
economic ties between the US and Jordan.
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