ammonnews.net

Ammon News - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate s, Ayman Safadi, on Tuesday met in Brussels with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi , in a meeting held to discuss ways to enhance "strategic" Jordan-EU partnership and development cooperation.

During the meeting, Safadi and Varhelyi affirmed depth of the Jordanian-European partnership and the joint keenness to develop it in all fields, and also agreed to maintain contact and consultation to implement its priorities, especially in the economic and investment aspects.

The two sides noted this effort aims to overcome Jordan's economic challenges and support development programs that are a priority in the Kingdom's economic policies.

Safadi valued the partnership and support programs provided by the European Union to Jordan, which contribute to developing infrastructure of the national economy, and launching major development projects, such as the National Water Carrier Project and the investment platform.

Safadi and Varhelyi discussed cooperation programs in the water and energy fields, especially European funding for the National Water Carrier Project (Aqaba-Amman).

In addition, the two sides agreed to prepare to hold the investment platform conference to support the Kingdom's economy in Jordan this year, which comes in the context of an investment program launched to support Jordan.

Varhelyi announced launch of the joint Jordan-EU investment platform during his visit to Amman last year, with a value amounting to 2.5 billion euros.

Safadi thanked Varhelyi for completing procedures for disbursing the last installment of the soft loan provided by the European Union to Jordan in 2020, at a value of 700 million euros.

In a related context, Safadi and Varhelyi also discussed opportunities to provide new European support to Jordan through a new grant and soft loan.

Safadi and Varhelyi reviewed the progress made in implementing the outcomes of the 14th meeting of Jordan-EU Association Council, which was held at the Dead Sea in June 2022, for the first time outside institutions of the European Union, which reflects "deep-rooted, strong" Jordan-EU partnership relations.

The meeting also discussed refugee-related issues, as Safadi called on the international community to continue providing aid and assistance to refugees and host countries, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Safadi also lauded support provided by the European Union to help the Kingdom address refugee burdens.

Safadi and Varhelyi discussed a number of regional issues and efforts to resolve regional crises and establish security and stability.