US aid to Jordan a strong support to reform process — PM

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Monday met with a delegation from the US Congress, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting, Mulki stressed the "historic" relations between Jordan and the US, appreciating the US support to the Kingdom, which contributes to supporting reform and development programmes.

He outlined the reform programmes that Jordan is implementing in the fields of politics and economics including the recent local elections.

The premier noted that the bilateral cooperation, along with other allied nations, is contributing to achieving victory against terrorism, which will help in restoring stability in Iraq and Syria.

Also on Monday, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury met the delegation and outlined the economic challenges that face Jordan, a ministry statement said.

During the meeting, Fakhoury said that despite the challenges, including hosting the Syrian refugees, the government is continuously working on the comprehensive reform to achieve prosperity for Jordanians, enhance Jordan's resilience, and transforming challenges into opportunities through preserving the gross-economic stability in coordination with the World Bank.

The government has prepared an Executive Development Programme 2017-2019, the Plan to Stimulate Economic Growth 2018-2022, which is based on the Jordan Document 2025 that includes the "most important" structural reforms and improving the business and investment environment, according to the statement.

The minister outlined the efforts exerted to increase economic growth rates, address the public debt, and combat poverty and joblessness despite the regional challenges.

He said that Jordan has reached a “point of saturation with its current capabilities” to host the Syrian refugees, explaining that support should be increased to enable the Kingdom to provide services for refugees and host communities.

In regard of the US aid programme for the coming stage, Fakhoury stressed the importance of responding to the national priorities.

He said that work is ongoing to renew the memorandum of understanding that governs the US aid provided to Jordan during the next five years with focusing on supporting the budget and certain competitive sectors to ensure stimulating the national economy in accordance with the growth plan 2018-2022.

The minister reviewed the burdens borne by Jordan due to the security and political situation in the region including hosting large numbers of Syrians, which imposed more pressure on the general budget.

He outlined the efforts to increase economic growth rates, address the public debt and combat poverty and joblessness.

The minister stressed the importance of the Jordanian-US "strategic" relations, noting that the total US support for 2017 will reach $ 1.3 billion, which comes for Jordan's pivotal role under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah.

For their part, the delegation commended Jordan's regional role and the reform programmes led by the King.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi met with the delegation, where they discussed bilateral relations and regional developments, mainly the Palestinian issue, the Syrian crisis and its consequences, and the war on terror, Petra reported.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani also met with the delegation. 

He pointed out that Jordan is not only fighting terrorists through its military forces, but also through a comprehensive approach to combat terrorist ideologies, in addition to monitoring the spread of terrorist thoughts on social media networks.

On the regional challenges, Momani noted that not resolving the  Palestinian issue for all these years is an opportunity that can be exploited by terrorists to introduce their agenda, creating an atmosphere of instability that contributes to creating environments for extremism and terrorism.