King holds talks with Canada governor

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Hussein, on Monday met with Governor General of Canada David Johnston over bilateral relations and regional developments, a Royal Court statement said.

During the meeting, held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, His Majesty and the governor stressed both countries' keenness on enhancing cooperation, especially in economic and investment fields, mutual trade, education and vocational and technical training.

The discussions touched on regional developments including the Mideast peace process, the Syrian crisis, and the efforts to reach political solutions to regional conflicts, in addition to the anti-terror fight within a holistic approach.

The King and the governor also discussed the burdens that the Kingdom shoulders due to hosting Syrian refugees.

Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Jordan Ambassador to the US Dina Kawar attended the meeting.

Upon his arrival, King Abdullah was given a formal reception attended by Johnston and his wife Sharon, where the marching music band played the Jordan Royal Anthem and the Canadian National Anthem, and the artillery performed a 21-gun salute.

His Majesty is due to also meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss means of enhancing cooperation between Jordan and Canada, and the latest regional and international developments.

Canada and Jordan are bound by a free trade agreement (FTA), which entered into force on October 1, 2012, as Canada’s first FTA with an Arab country. 

The Canada-Jordan FTA “gives Canadians access to new markets, customers and partnerships, as well as creating stronger supply and production chains. It immediately eliminated tariffs —­ which ran as high as 30 per cent — on over 99 per cent of current Canadian exports to Jordan and will eliminate tariffs on a small number of other products over the next three to five years”, according to the Canadian embassy’s website.

According to the Department of Statistics (DoS), in the first half of 2017, Jordan imported products from Canada worth around JD20.3 million, up from nearly JD19.6 million during the same period of 2016.

Exports to Canada stood at nearly JD22.6 million in the first half of the current year, compared with around JD22.3 million in the corresponding period in 2016.