Fakhoury meets US Army War College delegation

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Monday met with professors and students from the United States Army War College (USAWC), a Planning Ministry statement said.

During the meeting, Fakhoury outlined the current economic challenges facing the Kingdom due to the regional situation, including the economic and social burdens which affected the economic growth and the level of investments, in addition to increasing unemployment.

He stressed that despite the tough regional challenges, Jordan has maintained its resilience and voiced his appreciation for the increasing US support to the Kingdom, which has been increased during the past few years.

“Jordan has reached a point of saturation with its current capabilities” Fakhoury said, stressing the need to increase support to the Kingdom through grants and concessional financing so as to enable institutions to continue providing services for refugees and host communities.

“In response to the crisis, Jordan had to move towards transforming the challenges into opportunities through an economic and financial reform programme that preserves monetary and fiscal stability,” he underscored.

He cited the successive response plans and the Jordan Compact, which helped resume the comprehensive development path through a socio-economic roadmap embodied in the Jordan 2025, the Economic Growth Plan, the National Strategy for the Development of Human Resources, the Jordan Digital Strategy, the National Strategy for Employment as well as judicial reforms.   

Pointing out the FY 2018 Omnibus of US Government Funding Bill’s recent endorsement, Fakhoury said that the FY2018 military and economic appropriations for Jordan amounted to $1.525 billion, $1,08 billion of which entail economic assistance, $745.1 million for budget support and $425 million as military assistance, the statement said.

For their part, the delegation members praised Jordan’s humanitarian role in hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees, commending the reform and development programmes being implemented.  

The USAWC provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officers and civilians to prepare them for senior leadership assignments and responsibilities, the statement concluded.