Jordan, Egypt sign 13 deals as outstanding issues resolved

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Wednesday discussed bilateral cooperation and boosting relations with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

During the meeting, Sisi spoke highly of His Majesty King Abdullah's recent visit to Egypt, which, he said, reflected the distinguished ties between the two countries and their pursuit of serving mutual interests. 

Sisi commended the regularity of holding the Joint Jordanian-Egyptian Higher Committee meetings, the 26th session of which started on Wednesday in Cairo, co-chaired by Mulki and Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail. 

The Sisi-Mulki discussion also covered developments in the Arab world, with the two sides stressing the importance of reaching political solutions to regional crises to enhance the stability and safety of the countries and peoples in the neighbourhood. 

At the higher joint committee session, Mulki said that the meetings held in Amman with an Egyptian ministerial delegation in early August were “fruitful” as both sides were able to solve outstanding issues, some of which date back to 2002.

Mulki said that these meetings included solutions to obstacles facing bilateral cooperation in different fields, especially in regard to imports and exports, customs fees, border crossings, guest labour and other issues that influence the future of economic cooperation.

The premier stressed the need to unify efforts to contribute to building up both countries, which he said is the measure of progress in bilateral relations. 

Mulki commended Ismail’s decision to grant ships coming to and leaving Aqaba Port through the Suez Canal preferential treatment in terms of passage fees.

He also thanked his Egyptian peer for resuming the registration of qualified Jordanian factories to export to Egypt, in addition to exempting the products of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority from customs fees under an agreement to boost trade among Arab countries. 

Mulki and Ismail signed 13 agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) as well as the minutes of the higher committee’s meetings. 

The agreements included an MoU in the field of pharmaceuticals, an executive programme for tourism cooperation in the years 2016-2018, a programme of cooperation between Petra news agency and Egypt’s Middle East news agency. 

The deals also included an executive programme for cultural cooperation in 2017-2019, a technical cooperation protocol in the field of geology and mining and a cooperation agreement in maritime transportation. 

In addition, they signed an executive programme for vocational training in 2017-2018, an MoU for cooperation and exchanging expertise in the field of public administration reform, an extension to the sixth executive programme in the field of human resources for the years 2017-2018, an MoU in the field of insurance and social security, and an executive programme for cooperation in Islamic affairs. 

Moreover, the two sides signed a proposed executive programme pertaining to the agreement on scientific and technical cooperation and planning for the years 2017-2018 and an executive programme for cooperation in the field of youth for the years 2017-2019.

At the conclusion of the meetings, a joint statement was issued, highlighting the meeting of Mulki and Ismail on the sidelines of the 27th Arab summit in Nouakchott, during which they underlined the importance of reaching effective and unconventional measures to take bilateral relations to advanced levels.

The communiqué also praised the work of the preparatory committee during its meeting that convened on Tuesday, co-chaired by Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Jawad Anani. 

In regard to economic, trade, industrial and investment cooperation, it was agreed to hold the 19th session of the Jordanian-Egyptian Business Council meetings in December of 2017 in Cairo under an invitation from the Egyptian Businessmen Association.

An agreement was also reached to boost the implementation of the decisions taken at Arab summits and decisions issued by the economic and social council of the Arab League, in addition to continuing efforts in the field partnership with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and coordination to implement an agreement to ease trade flow in the World Trade Organisation. 

In the field of labour, the two sides agreed on the measures taken by the Labour Ministry regarding Egyptian guest workers in the Jordanian market and implementing relevant Jordanian laws and regulations.

The higher committee decided to hold its 27th session in Amman during the second half of 2017.