Development support, people-to-people ties at heart of Amman-Paris relations — ambassador

AMMAN — Jordan and France share the same commitment to multilateralism, tolerance and openness, said Paris’ Ambassador to the Kingdom, Alexis Le Cour Grandmaison.

“We fight terrorism together and seek to ensure peace and stability in the region,” Le Cour Grandmaison told The Jordan Times in an interview ahead of his country’s national day, Bastille Day, which falls on July 14.

“When I first arrived at the French embassy, I was struck to see in the lobby the photos of all the Presidents of the Fifth Republic meeting the Hashemite Sovereign of Jordan: Presidents De Gaulle, Pompidou, Giscard d’Estaing, Mitterrand, Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron. 

“The 1964 meeting between His Majesty the late King Hussein and Charles de Gaulle in the French Presidential Palace is particularly moving when we think about the change these two leaders each brought to their country,” he said.  

During his December 20-21 visit to Jordan, President Emmanuel Macron told His Majesty King Abdullah that Jordan is “both a friend and an ally”, the ambassador added.

Touching on key areas of bilateral cooperation, the envoy said that France works with Jordan to address the challenges it faces in an unstable regional and international environment.

Between 2008 and 2022, the French Development Agency (AFD) mobilised 2.2 billion euros in financial support and technical assistance in the water sector, urban development, governance and social cohesion, energy and the environment. 

“This support will continue in the following years,” he said, adding that between 100 and 150 million euros will flow per year as set in the bilateral agreement for the 2023 to 2026 period, which was signed in Paris on March 21, 2023.

Elaborating on French assistance to Jordan, the ambassador pointed out that the Disi project, which the AFD supports, contributes one-fifth of Jordan’s potable water.

Further, AFD projects have increased the production of renewable energy in Jordan by 180 MW, funded small- and medium-size companies, trained vulnerable populations, including refugees, and has started a dialogue on structural political reforms in areas such as water, justice, decentralisation and gender budgeting, he said.

On the humanitarian front, France has granted over 83 million euros since 2011 to help Syrian refugees in Jordan, in line with the Jordan Response Plan (JRP), the ambassador added. 

“Our action is deployed throughout Jordan, in camps and governorates. It covers needs related to food, health, education and women’s rights as well as livelihoods.”

The AFD’s dedicated grant funding tool, the Minka initiative, has committed 50 million euros between 2019 and 2022 to improve access to water and sanitation services, agriculture, vocational training, civil protection and soon social protection, he added.

Helping Jordan’s water sector adapt to climate change is “at the core of our bilateral cooperation”, the ambassador added, noting that cooperation in this regard was successfully renewed with the signing of the fifth MoU between the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and AFD in Paris this March.

Le Cour Grandmaison noted that the AFD Group will finance public infrastructure projects, particularly the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination Conveyance Project (AAWDCP). 

“On the national conveyance project, we note that the deadline for companies has been extended to December this year, and the AFD is adjusting its appraisal timeline accordingly, to be ready when the government will need the funds.”

During the March 2022 Pledge Conference organised by the Planning Ministry, France announced up to 205 million euros in support with a combination of 100 million euros in concessional sovereign loans, 100 million euros in non-sovereign loans through Proparco and additional grants of up to 5 million euros as part of global support “from Team Europe”.

As for economic relations, Le Cour Grandmaison said that France has been “one of the leading investors in Jordan for many years”. 

France has contributed at least $1.7 billon in foreign direct investment, he added. 

“French companies are fully part of the Jordanian social fabric: They create directly or indirectly 16,000 jobs,” 94 per cent of which are occupied by Jordanians, 30 per cent of whom are women, the envoy said. French companies altogether invest JD100 million each year in Jordan, he added.

“Trade flows remain below their potential,” but increased by 48 per cent in 2022 compared with 2021, reaching 380 million euros. 

Pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the ambassador noted France supports Jordan’s de-escalation efforts in accordance with the commitments of the Aqaba and Sharm El Sheikh meetings. 

“We call for the strict preservation of the status quo on the holy sites of Jerusalem, underlining the importance of Jordan’s specific role in that respect. What is paramount right now is that all violence against civilians cease, along with the Israeli settlement activities which are, needless to say, illegal under international law. These unilateral acts fuel tensions and constitute major obstacles to peace.

“More fundamentally, we need to rebuild a political horizon by negotiating the creation of an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state that would live in peace and security side by side with Israel,” the ambassador said. 

Turning to Iraq, Le Cour Grandmaison noted that France also works with Jordan “on the Bagdad format”. 

“The Dead Sea conference on December 21, 2022 at the invitation of His Majesty King Abdullah, highlighted the regional and international consensus supporting the independence, sovereignty and development of Iraq while paving the way to the development of regional cooperation projects,” he said.

“When it comes to Syrian refugees, the international community should continue to support Jordan and to find a political solution to the conflict to enable a voluntary, safe and dignified return of the refugees. To do so, guarantees must be provided by the Syrian regime,” the ambassador said.

Touching on cultural relations between the two nations, Ambassador Le Cour Grandmaison emphasised that “the human relations between France and Jordan, the country of Nachama, are crucial”.

He noted that the Lycée Français International of Amman, created 50 years ago, plays a key role in cultural cooperation, adding that Jordanian pupils account for over a third of the school’s intake. 

The ambassador also pointed out that in 2023, all those who undertook the French Tawjihi passed successfully, 93 per cent of them with honors. 

The Institut Français de Jordanie (IFJ) (formerly named French Cultural Centre) was opened in Jabal Luweibdeh in 1963, he noted. Each year, over 1,000 Jordanians take French lessons at the IFJ, and in May and June, 6,000 people attended cultural events and workshops organised by the institute.

The French Institute for the Near-East (IFPO) is also at the heart of the Franco-Jordanian cooperation. Its team is made up of Jordanian and French researchers who work together in a wide variety of fields including a high-end archaeology department, he added.

The 2,000 French nationals living in Jordan, one-third of which are also Jordanian, also “testify to the strength of the people-to-people ties between our countries”, the ambassador said.

The number of French tourists to Jordan also doubled from the first half of 2022, which saw 25,000 French visitors, to 54,000 in the first half of this year.

“In any case, I truly believe that we will see more cooperation in the future, especially in the framework of the implementation of the Royal vision put forward by His Majesty King Abdullah. I am confident that our two countries will remain strong and enduring allies as well as longstanding friends,” the ambassador said.