King, Queen head for UK, US

AMMAN  — Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania left on Friday on a working visit to London and the US, according to a Royal Court statement. 

In London, King Abdullah will deliver a lecture at the Royal College of Defence Studies on the latest regional and international developments.  

The King will head for San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, where he will meet with several leading economic figures, academics and representatives of civil society institutions.  

He will also meet with Jordanian entrepreneurs who are working in the US, to brief them on the incentives offered by the Jordanian business environment and to promote chances for attracting US investments to the Kingdom, especially in the telecommunications and IT sector; one of the key growth drivers in the Kingdom (see more details of visit in infograph).

The King will conclude his working visit in New York, where he will attend a special conference, held by the Clinton Foundation.

The conference will represent an opportunity to rally international efforts in support of Jordan in shouldering the various burdens that have resulted from hosting Syrian refugees, and to highlight the impact of the large influx of refugees on the country’s limited resources, according to the statement. 

Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq have taken in the majority of the 2.5 million Syrians who fled their country since the onset of the conflict in March 2011, with around 600,000 of them living in the Kingdom, according to UN figures, but unofficial figures suggest they could amount to one million.

HRH Prince Feisal was sworn in as Regent during the King’s absence.