Jordan a ‘friend, strategic partner’ to Japan — ambassador

AMMAN — Jordan and Japan enjoy a strong strategic partnership, especially in light of the Kingdom’s hosting of large numbers of refugees, and as Tokyo is one the country’s major donors, according to Japan’s Ambassador to Jordan Kaoru Shimazaki.

The ambassador’s remarks came during an interview with The Jordan Times marking the national day of Japan, celebrated on February 23, which is the birthday of the Emperor of Japan.

“Jordan’s generosity to host a huge number of refugees and to support their lives is worthy of praise,” the ambassador said.

He also pointed to the close ties between the leaders of the countries.

“Jordan is playing a geopolitically crucial and important role for peace and stability in the Middle East, which Japan highly values,” he added. 

He stated that in order to support political and social stability and economic development in Jordan, Japan has continuously provided assistance which amounts to more than $4 billion through grants, loans and aid.

The envoy also highlighted the technical cooperation between the countries, especially focusing on development of water and energy sectors, security enhancement, the tourism sector and infrastructure development.

He also noted that the Government of Japan understands the economic difficulties Jordan is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In December, Japan extended to Jordan a concessional “COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan” amounting to approximately $100 million.

Jordan hosts the second largest number of refugees in the world per capita, which the ambassador acknowledged. 

He added that refugee assistance and host community support projects have been conducted through international organisations and NGOs in the field of humanitarian assistance. 

Since last year, projects worth more than $19 million have been implemented, and this year Japan has decided to provide a further $9 million in assistance, Shimazaki said.

He stated that Japan places a high priority on the Jordanian water crisis as part of its Official Development Assistance (ODA) policy.

“Japan understands the importance and gravity of the water crisis in Jordan,” he noted. 

Last year the two countries signed a grant agreement worth $23 million as part of Japan’s “ongoing support for the Zai Water Supply System”. Additionally, an agreement was made through an assistance grant to provide Jordan with security enhancement equipment amounting to $48 million.

“Japan continues to cooperate with Jordan in order to support social and economic stability and development in the region, as a friend and strategic partner of Jordan, with the assistance of the international community,” Shimazaki said. 

He also noted that it is essential to coordinate and cooperate with Jordan considering the Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites, the Kingdom’s status as the biggest host country for Palestinian refugees, and Jordan’s experience and achievements in working for Middle East peace. 

“Japan highly values Jordan’s role for peace and stability in the region, especially in dealing with the Middle East Peace Process,” he stated, noting that Japan “clearly” supports the two-state solution. 

The ambassador said that Japan will continue working with Jordan to play a role in confidence building between the relevant parties, including through Japan’s “unique efforts such as the ‘Corridor for Peace and Prosperity’ initiative, which promotes connectivity between Palestine, Jordan, and Israel as well as economic self-reliance”.

“For a strategic partnership to be effective, relationships between people, as well as relationships between leaders, are very important,” he noted.

The envoy added that the embassy is working to strengthen relations between the peoples in the cultural and economic fields.

Touching on trade ties, Shimazaki said that the value of Jordan’s exports to Japan in 2020 was approximately $22.2 million.

He noted that the embassy acknowledges that attracting foreign investment is one of the priorities of the Jordanian government. 

“We would like to work on strengthening economic relations between Japan and Jordan and exchange views with Jordanian government officials and commercial enterprises,” he said.

The ambassador also praised the “great” performances of Jordan’s athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.