Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - His Majesty King Abdullah II Sunday welcomed Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and said Jordan looks forward to expanding ties with the southeast Asian country in economic and investment fields.

During the meeting, held at Al Husseiniyeh Palace in the attendance of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, the King urged the governments of both countries to explore further prospects for joint economic cooperation and to build on the free trade agreement linking them "in a manner that helps to open new markets for their exports and to boost trade exchange between them".

The meeting also dealt with ways to benefit from the expertise of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to promote vocational training, enhance human capacity and build leadership in Jordan's public sector.

They also talked about the prospect to transfer success stories from Singapore to Jordan through strengthening cooperation between Jordanian economic and investment institutions and their Singaporean peers and to exchange visits by the business community and public sector.

The meeting also tackled current regional and international developments and ways to address these issues "in a manner to enhance security and stability in the region and the world".

They stressed the importance of sustained efforts to face the major danger of terrorism and terrorist gangs, that threaten global peace, within a holistic approach.

The repercussions of the Syrian crisis and efforts to break the stalemate in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process also figured high on the meeting.

The Singaporean premier said his country is keen to strengthen ties with Jordan and "to take cooperation into advanced levels to serve their joint interests", particularly in economic and investment domains.

He expressed his admiration of the advancement and development in the Kingdom, which, he said, had been able to preserve its security and stability in the midst of the crises surrounding it, paying tribute to the King's role and wisdom in addressing the various issues.

The meeting, held over a luncheon hosted by the King to the Singaporean prime minister and his accompanying delegation, was also attended by the Royal Court Chief, the deputy premier and foreign and expatriates affairs minister and other officials.