Jordan and Iraq to promote bilateral cooperation (03/11/04)

Jordan and Iraq agreed on Wednesday to establish a mechanism aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation between the two countries. The agreement, reached during the first meeting of the Jordanian-Iraqi Joint Higher Committee, will govern the structural framework for cooperation between the two countries by establishing 10 committees in sectors such as military and security affairs, trade, transport, oil and energy, financial and banking cooperation, communications and information technology.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Jordanian Prime Minister Faisal Fayez and his Iraqi counterpart Iyad Allawi, and was attended by a number of ministers from both Jordan and Iraq. The two sides also agreed to set up a number of infrastructure projects as soon as possible, which constituted a strategic interest for both countries.

Jordan's prime minister told reporters after the meeting that Jordan was ready to provide all forms of assistance to Iraq on its quest to reconstruct the country, achieve economic development and move forward to bring about security and stability for its people. He also stressed Jordan's keenness to ensure that Iraq would restore its position on the regional and international levels.

The prime minister also asserted Jordan's support to the Iraqi request to deal with the huge foreign indebtedness that is currently preventing Iraq from achieving economic development. "As a result of that, Jordan has proposed to hold the fifth meeting for the donor countries in Jordan next spring to discuss the reconstruction process in Iraq," he said.