Planning minister concludes UK, France tour

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury has concluded a working visit to the UK and France, during which he met with several senior officials from both countries, in addition to participating in the fourth Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit 2016 and the Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers.

In the UK, Fakhoury met with Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel and the House of Commons' International Development Committee.

During the meetings, Fakhoury thanked the UK government for the assistance it has provided to Jordan and for fulfilling its commitments pledged at the London conference on Syria last February to help Jordan handle the burdens of the Syrian refugee crisis, according to a ministry statement.

They discussed developments related to the execution of the Jordan Compact, which was produced at the London meeting, entailing mutual pledges by Jordan and donors regarding the refugee crisis.

Fakhoury said Jordan seeks to bridge the gap between financial requirements and the funds made available.

He underlined the importance of the EU decision to simplify the rules of origin for Jordan, outlining progress in the implementation of the decision and the obstacles facing the industrial sector in the zones designated to benefit from the eased restrictions.

He highlighted Jordan’s need for technical support to help the industrial sector make the best out of the loosened rules of origin.

The minister also met with representatives of education and vocational training institutions over ways of transferring UK’s know-how to Jordan, especially after the latter adopted the National Strategy for Human Resources Development.

During the visit to France, Fakhoury participated in the OGP Global Summit 2016 on behalf of His Majesty King Abdullah.

The Paris summit, inaugurated by the French President François Hollande, focused on several issues such as transparency, integrity, anti-corruption and re-identification of the relations between governments and peoples on the basis of responsibility and accountability.

Also in France, he participated in the Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers held by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

During the meeting, Fakhoury noted that Jordan was the first Arab country to join the OGP, which constituted another success in the international arena, after having won the world’s recognition for its reform process and its resilience, stability and security during the “toughest times of the region”.

He outlined Jordan’s reforms in all fields, especially those related to governance, such as endorsing the National Integrity Charter and its action plan, and applying the concept of decentralisation. He also referred to His Majesty King Abdullah’s six Discussion Papers, in which the Monarch shared with the public his vision for reform and change over the past four years.

The minister also outlined the voluntary commitments that Jordan’s OGP action plan included as part of the initiative.

The action plan was prepared in partnership with Jordanian civil society institutions and was endorsed recently by the Council of Ministers.

It included enhancing the legal framework of access to information, press freedom and a plan to hold governorate council elections next year under the Decentralisation Law.

The OGP is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. The OGP now counts 70 member countries, as well as hundreds of civil society organisations.

On the sidelines of the summit, Fakhoury met with the French State Minister for Development and Francophonie Jean-Marie Le Guen, and thanked France for supporting Jordan on the bilateral level and within the context of London’s conference. 

During a meeting with the French Development Agency’s (AFD) CEO Rémy Rioux, Fakhoury discussed progress in the AFD’s current and future projects in Jordan and its support for the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (Red-Dead).

As for the partnership with the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation (IDC) to implement the legislative side of the OGP action plan, Fakoury met with IDC President Natalia Narochnitskaya and discussed the institute’s projects in Jordan, such as cooperation with Parliament, officials in charge of the decentralisation project and other scopes of future cooperation.

At the conclusion of the OGP summit, the minister met with all of the Jordanian civil society institutions that participated in the meeting and listened to their comments and demands, pledging to follow up.