The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was established in London in 1991 to help build a new era in Central and Eastern Europe. It is committed to furthering progress towards “market orientated economies and entrepreneurial initiative”. This has remained its’ guiding principle in the face of new challenges and welcoming new countries to the EBRD.

Regions of operations expanded in the 2000s to include Jordan in 2012.

The Bank aims to strengthen developing economies by making them competitive, well-governed, green, inclusive and integrated. It invests in projects, works on policy reform and provides technical advice which fosters innovation. As well as offering a wide range of financial instruments and other services, including business advice for SMEs.

In this capacity our consultant was appointed Industry Advisor to a small multidisciplinary architectural consultancy based in Amman Jordan.

The EBRD acknowledges that finance alone often cannot meet the challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses. They also need access to “know-how” to learn how to improve their performance and grow.

As an EBRD Advisor our consultant carried-out a strategic review of every aspect of the business, from product quality to sales and marketing, exports and financial and operational planning. Additionally helping the business to apply international standards and the latest technologies to put them ahead of the curve, but without forgetting sound environmental and social practices.

As part of its ongoing project to provide advice for small businesses in Jordan the EBRD arranges Sector Development Activities. One such workshop was arranged with the Jordanian Architecture and Engineering Business Council. A recent study showed that the most common requirement in workshops were for those covering technical and business topics. In the capacity of a Construction Sector Specialist our consultant took part in a workshop with 35 participating companies by giving a seminar on “Quality Management Systems” and “Design Review Verification”