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Samsung Electronics Levant announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Zain Jordan, to raise their level of cooperation, enhance retail sales and enrich the range of products provided by both parties to their customers.

Under this cooperation, Zain Jordan will offer the latest Samsung innovations and products at its various showrooms throughout the Kingdom and its online store (eshop.jo.zain.com). This includes smartphones, tablets, wearable devices, and accessories, which Samsung Electronics Levant provides to the Kingdom.

Samsung Levant will also provide TVs and screens for Zain Jordan to use within its projects, for tenders or various campaigns. This ranges from wall-mounted displays, ultra-wide screens, FLiP interactive screens, touch and educational screens, in addition to LCD screens, game screens, and various electronic devices.

Commenting on the occasion, the Vice President of Samsung Electronics Levant, Hyun Dong Lee, said: “We are pleased with our cooperation with Zain Jordan, which is the preferred mobile services operator for millions of Jordanians, and always keen to provide the best digital experiences to its customers. It comes in line with our vision to enter a new era of cooperation and develop unparalleled experiences that reflect the evolving lifestyles of users and enable them through Samsung innovations to gain access to technological progress and enhance their lives.”

Zain Jordan is keen to establish strategic partnerships with the most important and prominent brands. Providing Samsung’s latest devices and accessories, as soon as they are launched, is part of its continuous efforts to meet the desires and needs of its customers. This cooperation ensures that they will receive cutting-edge digital innovations, by providing a variety of devices via the company’s showrooms and through Zain eShop.

It is noteworthy that this is not the first cooperation between the two parties; a partnership has extended for years through several jointly launched campaigns for Zain Jordan customers and employees.

JoPACC upgraded JoMoPay to the ISO20022 Financial Messaging Standard, enabling interoperable instant payments between bank accounts and mobile wallets and unfolding a number of features and services.

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JoPACC celebrated five years of operating in the financial market, recounting its achievements and contribution to the development and expansion of digital payments in Jordan.

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In a signing ceremony hosted by the Central Bank of Jordan, JoPACC represented by its Chairman, Dr. Adel Sharkas, Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, and Advanced Company for Detection Systems (ACDS), represented by its General Manager, Mr. Shafiq Nassar, signed an agreement to develop “electronic know your customer (eKYC)” services in the Kingdom. The signing ceremony was attended by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Mrs. Samira Al-Zoubi, and representatives from key relevant institutions. The agreement aims to kick off the development of a platform that allows financial customers to onboard digitally and remotely and prove their identities when opening bank accounts and mobile wallets, when signing up to financial services, or when updating their data with their banks, using advanced technological solutions. The solution further enables financial institutions to validate customer data by connecting to the government database and digitally obtaining information about their clients. The project improves financial services for customers, enhances the efficiency and security of the banking sector, lowers costs and risks of compliance, and reduces financing terrorism and money laundering attempts.

Within the same context, an agreement was signed a few weeks ago between JoPACC and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) to provide the digital financial identity in Jordan as part of the eKYC project. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship is one of the main partners in this important national project and plays a critical role in its implementation by providing an electronic interconnection with information sources “Government Service Bus” through linking APIs and by using Blockchain technology to document customer approvals with the highest encryption requirements in line with legislation governing customer data protection and banking secrecy.

The digital financial identity and digital customer identification services will be launched during the second half of this year. The first phase of the project commenced at the end of 2021 following the signing of an agreement between JoPACC and MoDEE, after which banks took the initiative, within a short time frame, to connect through JoPACC with the government database to verify customer IDs. The second phase involves the development of a platform for registering for financial services digitally and remotely, which will benefit all both banks and non-bank financial institutions, such as mobile payment service providers, microfinance institutions, and insurance companies.

Dr. Adel Sharkas emphasized that the project embodies cooperation and partnership between the public and private sectors in enhancing Jordan’s digital infrastructure and interoperability between the financial and banking sectors on the one hand, and the relevant national institutions on the other hand, as well as deepening the sovereign role of state institutions in providing and developing platforms and the mechanisms that serve the sectors of the national economy and enable them to achieve the goals of sustainable development and improve Jordan’s position and ranking in technological development. He also applauded the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship’s contribution in the project to improve digital financial services as an essential step to achieve a digital economy that is based on innovation and continuous progress. For her part, Ms. Maha Bahou, CEO of JoPACC, stated that this national project is the first of its kind, in which the efforts of the government, the Central Bank, banks, and various industries work together in a participatory manner to provide an advanced service that benefits the Jordanian economy.

Advanced Company for Detection Systems (ACDS) is a company specialized in cutting-edge technology solutions and works in alliance with the Spanish company Gradient. It was chosen after winning a bid that was launched in 2021. A committee comprised of JoPACC and other Jordanian institutions assessed the technical and financial proposals submitted for the bid. Similar solutions have been developed by the company in more than 160 countries. ACDS thanked JoPACC for the confidence granted to them to complete the project and expressed their delight to contribute to expanding financial services and facilitating the journey of the financial user in Jordan.

Orange Jordan held the first event to introduce the Orange Artificial Intelligence Incubator, one of its projects that contribute to enhancing the entrepreneurial capabilities of youth, specifically in AI tech-based projects. The event hosted representatives from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and incubator project owners, in addition to experts in the AI field.

During the event, Eng. Lama Arabiat, Head of the Artificial Intelligence Department at the Ministry, detailed the government’s AI vision, the ministry’s role in building a supportive ecosystem, and the AI policy that was approved by the Council of Ministers at the end of 2020, in addition to operative requirements to take advantage of this global trend.

Mr. Odeh Haddadin, Digital Business Sector Manager at the Ministry, noted the importance of the Youth and Technology Project, which is being implemented by the Ministry and funded by the World Bank Group, and which aims to improve digital sector income opportunities and expand government digital services.

Ms. Ola Yaghi, Acting Head of the Digital Skills Building Department, introduced initiatives supervised by the Ministry, such as the “Hafiz” program, which aims to create temporary job opportunities for youth by employing fresh graduates, who have been unemployed for the last three months, in the digital and entrepreneurial sector. The Ministry subsidizes 50% of their monthly salary with an allowance for social security subscriptions for the program’s beneficiaries.

The AI incubator welcomed its first cohort in September 2021. Its one-year program focuses on three basic phases: improving technical skills, using AI in the interactive stage of product development, and opportunities, along with the other projects to expand their network in the market and with investors.

Orange Jordan noted that the activities of the incubator are due to the increasing importance of AI globally and the Jordanian policy for artificial intelligence 2020, which aims to enhance the business environment for AI, increase investment, support national startups, and encourage Jordanian companies to provide solutions and services based on AI. Orange stressed its commitment as a responsible digital leader to develop this field due to its current and future opportunities.

The incubator is co-funded by ISSF and co-designed by PSUT. It aims to increase the opportunities of entrepreneurs and development teams in the creative process and registered startups in their early stage, to enhance their skills in artificial intelligence, enable them to secure investments, and offer networking opportunities to develop solutions that serve socio-economic development.