Fakhoury meets US administration over bilateral ties, US support

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury has held several meetings with senior officials of the US administration to discuss bilateral relations in Washington, a ministry statement said on Sunday.

Fakhoury met with officials from the White House, the State Department, the Treasury Department and the USAID, along with members of Congress. 

The meetings came as a follow-up on the US support programme for 2017 and to renew the memorandum of understanding for 2018-2022, which aims to support Jordan’s reform and development efforts, the statement noted.

The minister highlighted the recent meeting between His Majesty King Abdullah and US President Donald Trump as a "success", as they discussed several issues such as regional peace and the fight against terrorism.

During his meetings, Fakhoury highlighted Jordan's role to restore security, stability and peace in the region.

The minister also highlighted Jordan's international role as a key host of Syrian refugees and the challenges the Kingdom is facing as a result of the unprecedented regional instability. 

On the internal level, Fakhoury said that Jordan is currently working on a comprehensive reform programme to achieve prosperity for its citizens and turn challenges into opportunities through maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability in coordination with the IMF.

The official highlighted efforts to improve the business environment by attracting investments, developing human resources and employment strategies, increasing public-private partnerships, and enhancing social protection.

He outlined the judicial reform process based on the Royal Committee for Developing the Judiciary and Enhancing the Rule of Law, in addition to the progress in the Jordan Response Plan, designed to deal with the Syrian crisis and enhance the resilience of Jordan, as well as the outcomes of the recent Brussels conference to follow up on the pledges of the London conference, held a year earlier. 

The minister said in the statement that the US officials affirmed their country’s commitment to continued support for Jordan, expressing their understanding of the role and challenges the Kingdom is facing and appreciating the reform process conducted by His Majesty.

The minister stressed the importance of taking into account, when deciding on the amount of support, the capacity of host countries, previous refugee waves, the size of the economy, the refugees-to-citizens ratio, natural and financial resources and the per capita income.

He pointed out that without continued support by the international community, Jordan will struggle to keep providing the necessary services to refugees in Jordan and maintain the level of services without adversely affecting the Jordanian citizens or risking the development gains Jordan has made over the past decades.