King begins official visit to New York

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah met on Sunday with Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and discussed ways for future cooperation between Jordan and the forum. 

The King is currently in New York, on the second leg of a work tour he started in Paris, where he is scheduled to participate in the 69th UN General Assembly meetings and meet with world leaders to discuss joint interests (see infographic).

The Monarch will head the Jordanian delegation at the meetings and deliver a speech in which he will review the Kingdom's stance on the latest regional developments and challenges facing the Middle East, a Royal Court statement said. 

At his meeting with Schwab, the King said the WEF provides the chance to discuss developments in the Middle East, mainly economic challenges and prospects for creating jobs for young people, who constitute the majority of the population in the region.

Schwab commended the King’s efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East and his astute wisdom in dealing with regional and global challenges. 

Founded in 1971, the WEF convenes annually in Davos, Switzerland, and also holds regional meetings, including the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, hosted at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre at the Dead Sea.

The forum releases several research reports annually, such as the Global Competitiveness Report, which measures the economic competitiveness of participating countries, including Jordan. 

Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh and King’s Office Director Imad Fakhoury attended the meeting, according to the statement.

Also on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday and reviewed the latest regional developments and ways to boost bilateral relations, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

They discussed the importance of combining efforts to confront and combat terrorism, asserting the importance of resuming serious and effective peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis that would deal with all final-status issues.

In separate meetings, Judeh also held talks on ties and the latest developments in the Middle East with his Turkish, Spanish, Mexican and Norwegian counterparts, according to Petra.