Saudi envoy hails King's speech at UN 77th session 

AMMAN — Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Bin Bandar Sudairy stressed the importance of His Majesty King Abdullah's speech at 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) last Tuesday, which presented multiple solutions to world crises, most notably the Palestinian cause.

In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Thursday, on the occasion of Saudi Arabia's national day, which annually falls on September 23, Sudairy lauded the “close" bilateral relations between the two nations, which are based on common interests.

"Coordination between the two kingdoms is taking place on a daily basis at various levels. Riyadh is always keen to continue joint consultation and cooperation to serve mutual interests and the Arab and Islamic nations," he continued.

He also commended Jordan's "attractive and distinguished" investment climate, which attracts Saudi investments, noting that Saudi Arabia tops the list of investors in Jordan.

Saudi investments in Jordan primarily include railway projects to transport goods and passengers from Aqaba to Amman, the National Water Carrier Project, electrical connection, and the medical city on the Airport Highway, a project worth half a billion dollars, he noted.

The largest Jordanian community abroad works in Saudi Arabia, standing at about 600,000 individuals. He commended the community’s competencies in various fields.

He also referred to the King's wise leadership in investing in Jordan's people and focusing on human capital, as the Kingdom has become a well-known source of human capital to various countries.

Noting Saudi Arabia's "full and firm" support to the Palestinian cause, he referred to the Saudi stance to stand by the Palestinian people and to back the two-state solution and the Hashemite Custodianship over Jerusalem's holy sites.

Saudi Arabia was the first country to launch the Arab Peace Initiative at the Fez Summit in 1980. The second initiative took place at the Beirut summit in 2002, he said.

Israel will not obtain peace without restoring the rights of the "brotherly" Palestinian people, which was emphasised by His Majesty King Abdullah at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last Tuesday, he noted.

Referring to the "distinguished" educational and cultural cooperation between the two countries, he said that there was "outstanding" attendance in the celebrations of Irbid as the capital of Arab culture last week, confirming Jordan's cultural position in Saudi Arabia.