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AMMAN — The Inter-Parliamentary Union on Sunday, in its 138th session currently held in Geneva, voted for supporting the Palestinians' right of Jerusalem as the capital of their state.

The vote followed efforts by the Jordanian parliamentary delegation to the meeting to support an Arab-Islamic emergency item added to the agenda in relation to the repercussions of the US decision to relocate the embassy into Jerusalem, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The voting hall witnessed intensified lobbying by the Jordanian delegates, headed by Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh, who held several meetings with representatives of international parliaments to provide them with evidence on the Israeli occupation's discrimination and brutality, Petra said.

The Jordanian delegates’ meetings also aimed at acquainting participating parliamentarians with impacts of the US decision on the future of the peace in the region. 

Tarawneh said that the Jordanian diplomacy has succeeded in coordinating with several Arab and Islamic delegations to win this decision that stresses the legitimacy of the Palestinian cause, reiterating that the voting result highlights the international isolation of the Israeli occupation, Petra added.  

AMMAN — Business leaders on Sunday valued His Majesty King Abdullah's efforts to attract foreign investments to the country and to "open doors" for the Jordanian products into the international market, citing achievements made during His Majesty’s recent visit to The Netherland, following a milestone India visit.

In phone interviews with The Jordan Times, economic sector leaders said that the visits have had "direct" positive outcomes either in form of deals on joint economic ventures already signed between Jordanian businesspeople and their Dutch and Indian counterparts or in form of promised investments in the country "soon".

"The King opens us doors to the international market and to well-established and prestigious world's industries that we need to seize and be ready for," said Basil Al Deek, representative and spokesperson for Jordan Exporters and Producers Organisation for Vegetables and Fruits.

Deek said that a Jordanian delegation of agriculture stakeholders and traders accompanied the King to The Netherlands, where they discussed with their Dutch counterparts ways to utilise the latter's distinguished agricultural expertise.

"With The Netherlands being a leading exporter of agricultural products, we discussed with Dutch producers and traders the possibility that they help market the Jordanian agricultural produces to their worldwide network of importers."

Deek added that talks also covered entering joint agricultural ventures between Jordanian and Dutch farmers.

His organisation, he said, has signed an agreement with the Dutch Centre for Import-Promotion (CBI). “This was one of the direct outcomes of that the King’s visit to The Netherlands.”

CBI is the agency of the ministry of foreign affairs of The Netherlands and part of the development cooperation with the European country’s partners. 

Under the agreement, Deek said, the CBI will provide the organisation with exporting services, including markets data and analysis, exhibiting opportunities and training. 

“Jordan has great agricultural potentials. During the King’s visit to The Netherlands, we succeeded in arousing the Dutch interest in this industry. It is now up to the Jordanian producers and traders to capitalise on this outcome.”  

“The Dutch were very eager to help and they have transformed their pledges into actions,” said Wael Haddadin, owner of Kariem Haddadin Farms.

Haddadin said that the Dutch have put their modern greenhouse technology at the service of Jordan, adding that two Jordanian farmers have already received “giant greenhouses” with half of their price extended by the Dutch government.

“Each greenhouse costs 500,000 euros. The Dutch government pays 250, 000 euros of that.” 

Haddadin added that there are already a number of agricultural projects in Jordan either implemented by the Dutch or financed by them, especially in the field of hydroponics or other forms of controlled environments. “But the King’s visit to The Netherlands has expanded the scope of such cooperation and made it more institutionalised and sustainable.”

The Dutch will also help in the water security field.

“The Dutch have future plans for dams in Jordan that they will implement in cooperation with the World Bank,” Haddadin said. 

In the presence of King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, His Majesty met with business leaders and CEO’s of leading Dutch companies.

During the meeting, His Majesty outlined the opportunities offered by Jordan to foreign investors, highlighting measures taken to improve Jordan’s business environment and attract investments. The King noted that Jordan is seeking to benefit from the Dutch experience and advanced know-how in the fields of agriculture, water management, energy and energy storing solutions.

The meeting covered the investment opportunities that the Jordanian economy provides in several vital sectors, such as renewable energy, infrastructure and transport, in addition to benefitting from the strategic location of the Kingdom and the free trade agreements signed with several countries. 

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Indian and Jordanian economists underlined the importance of His Majesty’s visit to India earlier this month in enhancing the Amman-New Delhi relations and building joint economic ventures between Jordanian businesspeople and their Indian counterparts. 

They also lauded Jordan’s recent decision to provide visas to Indian nationals upon arrival.

During the King’s visit to India, the two countries signed 12 agreements in areas of defence, health and medicine, manpower cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed for setting up a next generation centre of excellence (CoE) in Jordan for training of at least 3,000 Jordanian IT professionals over a period of five years, and setting up a resource centre in India for training master trainers in the IT field from Jordan. Other agreements signed include long-term supply of rock phosphate and fertilisers to India.

Economist Yousef Damra, manging editor of the business department at Al Ghad Daily, said that the outcomes of the visits indicate that “there is a genuine opportunity for Jordan to lure investments and penetrate new markets”.

However, he said,  success in taking full advantage of the King’s efforts hinges on the country’s ability to remove bureaucratic obstacles, improving the business environment and facilitate the new investments.   

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Sunday said that the Baqoura and Ghumar areas are under the territorial sovereignty of Jordan.

In response to a question by MP Ibrahim Abulez, Safadi said that the Baqoura area in the side of the Jordan River is a “private property” of Israelis since 1927 while the Ghumar area in the southern Wadi Araba region is owned by the state. 

During the Lower House’s oversight session on Sunday, Safadi added that the exploitation right of the two areas is regulated by the annexes of the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli Wadi Araba Peace Treaty.

“The government is currently examining its decision regarding the nature of use of the Baqoura and Ghumar areas in a way that serves the higher national interests,” Safadi said.  

Ending the Israeli lease of the Baqoura and Ghumar areas has been a pressing demand of MPs, political parties and activists.

Under the peace treaty with Israel, the two parties agreed that the “Naharayim/Baqoura area and Zofar area will fall under Jordanian sovereignty with Israeli private land use rights. 

These rights include unimpeded freedom of entry to, exit from and movement within the area.

“These areas are not subject to customs or immigration legislation. These rights will remain in force for 25 years and will be renewed automatically for the same period unless either country wishes to terminate the arrangement, in which case consultations will be taken.”

AMMAN — Early retirees number at 100,000, constituting 47 per cent of 211,000 Social Security Corporation (SSC) pensioners, SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi said on Sunday.

He said that the 2014 Social Security Law allows early retirees to combine parts of their pensions and salaries if they go back to work, subject to certain terms and conditions outlined in the law, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Sbeihi expressed concern over the small number of early retirees that notified the SSC of their return to the labour market, noting that only 449 retirees had done so. 

AMMAN — The government on Sunday condemned a bombing that targeted the convoy of Alexandria’s security chief that killed two security personnel and injured five others.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said that such terrorist acts are testimony to the heinousness of terrorist ideology and the cruelty of its followers, highlighting the importance of intensifying international and regional efforts to uproot it, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Momani stressed Jordan’s support to Egypt in eliminating terrorists. He also conveyed the government’s condolences to the Egyptian government and victims’ families, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. 

AMMAN — The Jordanian Action for the Development of Enterprises (JADE) on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six business associations and five start-up incubators across the Kingdom, aiming to support the development of an “inclusive and innovative” private sector capable of leading to further economic growth in Jordan. 

Co-funded by the EU, JADE is a three-year project targeting 100 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and 60 innovative startups, providing them with development opportunities focused on increasing exporting, maximising productivity and creating new employment opportunities. 

To achieve its objectives, the project will work with various public and private sector stakeholders including the Jordanian government, the chambers of industry and commerce, local business development service providers and incubators.

Around 80 representatives from governmental agencies, SMEs, universities, entrepreneurs, incubators and civil society organisations attended the signing ceremony, held under the patronage of Industry Minister Yarub Qudah, Tourism Minister Lina Annab and EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana. 

Fontana said: “Today’s event demonstrates the EU’s continuous support to the Jordanian private sector,” stressing that the EU “wants to make sure that companies grow, new jobs are created and Jordanian products gain more access to the world’s most competitive markets”.

For her part, Annab noted that the Ministry of Tourism is “optimistic” about the JADE project, explaining that “through its partnerships with all the champions in the public and private sector, it will support the tourism sector in the areas of sustainable and local tourism — which will have a direct impact on local communities”.

In a speech read on his behalf during the signing ceremony, Qudah stressed the importance of harnessing the potential of business associations and incubators, noting that “the JADE project is supporting ongoing initiatives and governmental plans aimed at stimulating the economy, increasing the levels of real economic growth on a sustained basis and creating new job opportunities for Jordanians”. 

In addition, the minister stressed that “SMEs employ 75 per cent of the Jordanian labour force and they have proven their ability to overcome challenges”, adding that “however, more needs to be done in order to enhance their competitiveness and enable them to become exporters to foreign markets”.

“With the beginning of our partnership with Jordan’s business associations and incubators — which are strategically located in all regions of the Kingdom — we are well poised to enhance the ability of small-and medium-sized Jordanian businesses to grow and export” JADE Project Manager Hamzeh Shamaileh said, expressing gratefulness “for the support of the EU in enhancing the Jordanian economy, and all our partners’ commitment to empowering and improving the economic conditions of the Kingdom”.

AMMAN — Sharaf Qudah on Saturday won elections as overall leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Society, according to Al Rai Daily. The Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood’s vote promoted Qudah from his position as deputy overall leader.

Former overall leader of the society in Jordan Abdul Majid Thneibat on Thursday announced his resignation from his post for “health reasons”.

Qudah is a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and is, in addition to his job as instructor at the University of Jordan, a well-known Hadith scholar in Jordan and the Islamic world, Al Rai added.

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation on Sunday upheld a ruling sentencing a man to death, three to life in jail and acquitted a fifth in the trial dubbed the Rakban case, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In June 2016, a car bomb attack on an army post near Rakban refugee camp killed seven Jordanian soldiers and injured 11, prompting the immediate closure of the Kingdom’s northern and northeastern borders, which has remained closed ever since.

In December last year (SSC), the State Security Court  issued a death sentence against the main defendant in the case, Najim Omour, who confessed to recruiting the other four defendants for the Daesh terrorist group and assigning them to carry out the attack.

He said he had tasked them with collecting intelligence information and obtaining photos of the targeted site, according to Petra.

The SSC also issued a life sentence with hard labour against three defendants: Ahmad Bdour, Rashid Omour and Fandi Ghayath, while it found the fifth, Ahmad Al Ali, not guilty of all terror-related charges, yet he was handed a two-year jail sentence for possessing narcotics for purposes of trafficking and entering the Kingdom illegally.

AMMAN — Minister of State for Investment Affairs Muhannad Shehadeh and a delegation from the Iraqi Business Council (IBC) on Sunday discussed several issues and challenges facing Iraqi investors in the Kingdom.

Shehadeh, who is also head of the Jordan Investment Commission, said that Iraqi investors constitute “an asset” to the Jordanian economy, adding that Iraqi businesspeople’s successes can be a “model” for non-Jordanian investors in the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

IBC Chairman Majid Saedi expressed appreciation for the government’s efforts in presenting all kinds of facilities to Iraqi investors, as well as the commission’s efforts in finding solutions to the challenges facing approximately 33,000 Iraqi businesspeople mainly working in health, tourist, industrial and trade sectors

AMMAN — A security source at the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army has said that the eastern and northern military zone units thwarted an alleged drug smuggling attempts, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday. 

The source said that the northern military zone unit, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND), has foiled an alleged drug smuggling attempt on the Jordanian-Syrian border after detecting five people approaching the Kingdom’s territory.

The rules of engagement were applied, resulting in the arrest of three while the rest of the suspects retreated to the Syrian territory. 

After searching the area, a Kalashnikov weapon, 31 palm-sized sheets of hashish, 103,010 Tramadol pills and 28,000 Captagon pills were seized and transferred to the concerned authorities, the source
said. 

The source added that the eastern military zone unit thwarted another drug smuggling attempt on the Jordanian-Syrian border in coordination with the AND, noting that the rules of engagement were applied after the security forces detected a vehicle reaching the Jordanian territory, which resulted in the retreat of the smugglers to the
Syrian territory. 

After searching the area, the army seized 2,972 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 580 palm-sized sheets of hashish, and 195,000 Captagon pills, which they transferred to the concerned authorities, according to Petra.