Ammon News - The Lower House's Foreign Affairs Committee met Tuesday with Antigua and Barbuda Ambassador Sami Al-Mufleh and discussed prospects of cementing bilateral ties, especially in economic, trade, cultural, religious and medical tourism fields.

Head of the committee Mirza Bolad said during the meeting with Mufleh, himself a Jordanian, that the Kingdom and the Caribbean nation share common bilateral relations despite the distance between them as they play a historic role in promoting dialogue and peace and rejecting terrorism.

He expressed the committee's pride in the achievements of Jordanian youth, "who were able to reach the highest positions in foreign countries and represent them."

Mufleh is the first Jordanian to represent a foreign country as ambassador to the Kingdom, which is a source of pride in the Kingdom's citizens, Bolad said.

The MPs called for maintaining and strengthening relations with Antigua and Barbuda, upgrading trade and economic relations as well as promoting tourism to Jordan, especially religious and medical tourism.

They reviewed the difficult economic conditions that Jordan is experiencing as a result of regional instability and the Kingdom's hosting of waves of refugees, which added to the economic hardship and put pressure on the infrastructure.

Mufleh called on Jordan to enhance investment, trade and cultural ties with Antigua and Barbuda and promote religious tourism, for the benefit of the two friendly peoples and countries.

He reaffirmed that Antigua and Barbuda supports Jordan's stance toward the Palestinian issue and international resolutions calling for a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The envoy also stressed his country's support of the Hashemite custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.