Jordan, Oman sign multiple MoUs at Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in Amman

AMMAN — Jordan and Oman on Thursday signed several memoranda of understanding and executive programmes after concluding the Jordanian-Omani Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in Amman.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding for establishing industrial estates, an executive programme for educational cooperation for the 2024-2026 period and an executive programme for the memorandum of understanding in the youth programme for the 2023-2025 period, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Jordan and Oman also signed an executive programme to activate the memorandum of understanding in the field of consumer protection, and an executive programme to activate the memorandum of understanding on environment for the 2023-2025 period. 

Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi received his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, where the two held extensive talks before leading the 11th Jordanian-Omani Joint Ministerial Committee.

The two ministers stressed the "deep-rooted, historic and strategic" relations between the two countries and their mutual desire to develop ties in accordance with the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah and Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.

They also discussed opportunities to expand collaboration in political, economic, investment, tourism and cultural endeavours.

The two ministers also signed the minutes of the committee's meeting, which aimed to establish wider cooperation in all fields.

Concluding the committee meeting, the two countries issued a final statement that said Amman and Muscat reviewed the course of cooperation between the two countries, along with the progress and development of relations. 

They reiterated the importance of expanding cooperation in the economic, trade and investment fields and supporting the private sector’s role in increasing the volume of bilateral trade.

They also called for promoting cooperation in areas of high economic return, such as in the industrial, agriculture, environment, transport, ICT, digital economy, health, education, tourism and culture sectors.

The two sides also stressed the centrality of the Palestinian issue and the need for a just solution to end the occupation and meet all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, on the basis of the two-state solution that leads to the establishment of the sovereign independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, and in accordance with relevant international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace initiative.

They also highlighted the importance of the role of the historic Hashemite Custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem in protecting the holy sites and their Arab-Islamic and Christian identity, along with the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem.

The two countries also affirmed the need to respect the role of the Jordan-run Jerusalem Awqaf and Aqsa Affairs Department of the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf, as the sole authority to supervise the Al Aqsa Mosque, whose total area is a place of worship for Muslims alone.

The two sides also reiterated their unequivocal rejection of all measures targeting the Christian presence in the occupied East Jerusalem and at changing the area’s historical and legal status quo, including any Islamic and Christian properties and Awqaf (endowments).

The ministers condemned the continued attacks on the occupied Palestinian territories, most recently on Jenin, and warned of the repercussions of the continued occupation and the unilateral and illegitimate steps that undermine the two-state solution.

Safadi and Albusaidi stressed the need for the international community to take practical and urgent steps to provide the necessary financial support to UNRWA to meet the agency's financial deficit to ensure that it continues to provide services to Palestine refugees in accordance with its UN mandate. 

They also stressed the importance of the Arab role that was solidified after the Jeddah and Amman meetings to contribute to the efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria in accordance with a step-by-step methodology and in line with UN Resolution 2254 that addresses all its humanitarian, political and security implications. 

They also welcomed decision No. 8914 made during the ministerial-level Arab League meeting.

The two sides reviewed several regional and international crises and stressed the need to work jointly to enhance joint Arab action in order to boost capacities to deal with all regional and international challenges. 

They also agreed to hold the 12th session of the Joint Ministerial Committee in Oman in 2024, on a date to be determined later through diplomatic channels.

In a press conference following the committee meeting, Safadi said that he acquainted his Omani counterpart with the outcomes of his visit to Syria, which was part of the efforts to reach a political solution using a step-by-step methodology consistent with UN Resolution 2254 that would end the crisis in Syria and the humanitarian, security and political consequences.

Replying to a question about the meeting of the Security Council on Friday, at the invitation of the UAE, and regarding Jordan’s coordination, Safadi said that Arab countries are constantly coordinating, as the UAE is the Arab representative on the Security Council, thus playing a full role in conveying and adopting the Arab view.

For his part, Albusaidi expressed satisfaction with the results achieved during these meetings and the memoranda of understanding and executive programmes signed.

He added that the meeting has laid out many courses of action to come, expressing his aspiration to transform the meeting’s outcomes into reality to benefit both countries' peoples.