Planning minister campaigns for Jordan in Germany

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury on Tuesday discussed with the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Muller and other senior officials means to drum up support for refugee-burdened Jordan during the upcoming London conference.

Fakhoury also met with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Thomas Steffen, Foreign Policy and Security Adviser at the Federal Chancellery Christoph Heusgen and other senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a ministry statement sent to The Jordan Times.

During his meetings with German officials, Fakhoury voiced the Kingdom's appreciation for Germany's support to Jordan over the years, making Germany an “important and longstanding partner to the Kingdom in the sphere of development, supporting key sectors such as water and sanitation, education, climate change, energy efficiency and solid waste”.   

He also expressed appreciation to Germany for its additional support over the past three years, directed to refugee-hosting communities in Jordan, under the Jordan Response Plan (JRP).   

Fakhoury also exchanged views with German officials on regional matters, the protracted Syrian crisis as well as the continued impact of regional situation and the Syrian refugees on Jordan. He also updated his hosts on the recent developments on the reform front, the economic outlook and critical challenges facing Jordan in light of regional circumstances, the statement said. 

The visit also came in preparation for the upcoming Syria Donors Conference that will be held in London in early February and will be co-chaired by the UK, Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the UN.

At the gathering, Jordan seeks further support from its partners to its Jordan Resilience Plan 2016-2018 to help the Kingdom alleviate the impact of the refugee crisis on vital sectors and to ensure the continuation of service delivery to Syrians and host communities.

Another purpose of the visit was to secure support for the “holistic approach” of the Jordan Economic Response for the Syrian crisis, which seeks investments that improve the quality of life in host communities and secure jobs for Jordanians and a fraction of the Syrian refugees.

For their part, the German officials commended the efforts Jordan has been undertaking on the regional and national fronts as well as in handling the refugee influx, reiterating their country’s commitment to continued support of Jordan through the JRP as well as to development priorities under the Executive Development Programme 2016-2018, the statement said. 

As a result of regional crisis and spillover on Jordan, Berlin has doubled its assistance to Jordan. In November 2015, Germany made additional commitments to Jordan in the amount of 127.9 million euros.