WHO WE ARE
The USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project (LENS) Is a five-year project that supports small business growth and better economic planning to strengthen Jordanian communities against economic adversity.
WHAT WE DO
-
Promoting better policies to encourage business and investment: USAID LENS recommends new or amended policies specifically aimed at supporting and enhancing the growth of micro and small business (MSEs).
-
Supporting local economic development (LED) and planning: USAID LENS works with local government officials in targeted areas to help them attract investment to their communities and facilitate growth.
-
Encouraging business growth in key sectors: USAID LENS works directly with MSEs in targeted sectors to help them grow and become more competitive. The project also works to build the capacity of business service providers, including associations and chambers, to help them provide better services and training to MSEs.
-
Fostering better access to finance: USAID LENS encourages better MSE access to finance by working with developmental and micro-finance institutions to improve their service offerings to firms and individuals, as well as helping more MSEs become more eligible to borrow. The project also helps local governments identify alternative resources of income (such as income-generating projects) in order to implement more economic development initiatives.
-
Building stronger local networks to encourage economic development: Through this work, stakeholders collaborate more on prioritizing and planning for local economic development and investment implementation. Additionally, the project helps connect firms with industry associations, chambers, and business service providers to help boost MSE competitiveness and access to new markets.