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AMMAN — Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and UK’s Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday discussed means to strengthen bilateral relations and reviewed the latest developments in the Middle East region.

During a meeting that was held in London, Judeh and Hague discussed the progress of the US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and the outcome of the recent visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to the region.

They asserted that all concerned parties should join efforts to achieve the desired progress within the designated time frame.

Judeh reiterated that Jordan considers the establishment of an independent, sovereign and congruent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital as part of its higher interests, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He noted that all final status issues are linked to Jordan’s strategic interests, expressing his appreciation of the UK’s support to Amman’s efforts led by His Majesty King Abdullah in this regard.

Discussions also focused on the Geneva II conference on Syria that is scheduled to be held on January 22.

In this context, Judeh asserted Jordan’s position, which stresses the importance of stopping the bloodshed in Syria and arriving at a political solution that guarantees the security, safety and unity of Syria with the participation of all the components of Syrian society.

The two sides also reviewed the role that Jordan will play through its membership at the Security Council and the important issues that will be put forward to the council this month, during which Jordan holds the rotating presidency.

Stressing Britain’s support for Jordan’s election to become a member at the Security Council, Hague said the UK will cooperate with the Kingdom on various issues, adding that Jordan’s election for the UN seat reflects the respect that King Abdullah and Jordan have.

UK’s foreign secretary commended Jordan’s contribution to the UN peacekeeping contingents in different parts of the world. He also expressed Britain’s appreciation of Jordan for hosting and assisting Syrian refugees, stressing Britain’s continued support to this humanitarian mission.

At the meeting, the two officials stressed the importance of holding the Geneva II conference on Syria and the need to arrive at a political solution for the situation in Syria. 

AMMAN — The consumer price index (CPI), a measurement of inflation, rose by 5.6 per cent in 2013 compared with 2012, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS).

The inflation rate by the end of last year almost came in line with the expectations of the International Monetary Fund, which estimated inflation in 2013 to reach 5.5 per cent.

The DoS report said that the rise in inflation was attributed mainly to higher transportation prices, which went up by 11.4 per cent last year, fuel and electricity, which, according to the official figures, showed the highest increase in prices after it rose by 19.7 per cent.

Other commodities and services that pushed inflation up in 2013 included rentals, which rose by 4.5 per cent, vegetables by 14.3 per cent and fruits by 17 per cent, the DoS bulletin showed.

The official reports indicated that the increase in several commodity prices was coupled with a drop in the prices of cigarettes and tobacco products by 8.5 per cent, medical care by 1.5 per cent, cereal products by 1 per cent and cooking oil by 1.4 per cent.

In December, the CPI went up 3.3 per cent when compared with the same month of 2012, according to the data e-mailed to The Jordan Times. 

AMMAN — The University of Jordan (UJ) has launched a new master’s programme in sustainable development, the “first such specialisation ever taught in Jordan”.

The two-year programme, which is supported by the Columbia University Middle East Research Centre (CUMERC) and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, will incorporate the basic sciences required for sustainable development, including health, nature and social administration.

During the launch, held at CUMERC on Monday, UJ President Ekhleif Tarawneh said the university has implemented similar academic programmes in cooperation with European universities in Germany and Sweden.

The new MA programme, to be implemented in cooperation with Columbia University in the US and CUMERC, is part of UJ’s quest for further international recognition, Tarawneh added.

Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif stressed the importance of the new programme in providing decision makers with scientific and specialised research on sustainable development.

CUMERC Director Safwan Masri said the master’s programme is taught at 22 universities worldwide, including the New York-based Columbia University, highlighting the potential contributions of such a branch to Jordan’s development endeavour.

Ziad Edynat, dean of UJ’s school of international studies and political sciences, said the programme is expected to equip a generation of researchers and specialists with the basic skills to address problems related to development in their countries.

The programme, according to pamphlets distributed during the ceremony, seeks to provide students with the skills and knowledge required to design sustainable development projects in sectors they are involved in that enable them to tackle a variety of challenges including poverty, climate change and contagious diseases.

The programme will also feature field training that employs theoretical aspects in projects agreed upon with the Planning Ministry and other institutions involved in sustainable development.

The core courses in the programme include theories of human development, public health, agriculture, water management, environment impact assessment and research methods in development studies.

UJ will begin accepting applications for the programme this month.

AMMAN — Jordanians will be able to inquire about their private sector and government bills and settle them online through the eFAWATEERcom service, to be launched in April by the Central Bank of Jordan.

“Those with bank accounts will be able to see their bills the moment they are issued and can settle them online immediately without the need to visit the branches of electricity or water companies,” Maha Bahou, executive manager of the payment systems department at CBJ, told The Jordan Times.

All banks in Jordan will be connected to the software, which was developed by Jordanian company Madfoo3atCom for Electronic Payments, she said.

“Those wishing to benefit from the service will need to fill a profile at their banks with the number of their electricity and water meters, the buildings they own and other information related to their possessions, and their bills will be sent to them online by the end of each month,” Bahou added.

eFAWATEERcom aims to provide Jordanians with a convenient, time-saving and flexible method to review and settle their bills via ATMs, mobile banking, Internet banking and other electronic payment methods under a unified system, according to a Madfoo3atCom statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

The service will allow beneficiaries to cover electricity, phone, water, education, healthcare, travel and tourism, e-Commerce and insurance bills, in addition to government fines, property taxes and other fees, subsequently ensuring “fast, low-cost transactions” for all involved parties.

“Now that CBJ is involved, it will be reassuring for users concerned about the safety and security of transactions they conduct online using this software,” Bahou said, noting that it was “developed in line with highly sophisticated international standards to ensure safety”.

“We expect the programme to boost usage of e-transactions,” she added.

Nasser Saleh, CEO and founder of Madfoo3atCom, stressed that “the service will offer Jordanians optimum flexibility and security while paying their bills via electronic channels such as mobile phones and laptops.”

“It will also enable them to avoid any unnecessary service shut-offs that may occur due to delayed transactions, as well as the immediate activation of an inactive service,” the statement quoted him as saying.

“eFAWATEERcom will also positively impact the national economy as a whole as a result of faster cash-flow, higher effectiveness and time-efficiency,” he added.

AMMAN — An initiative launched on Wednesday seeks to encourage consumers to start using concentrated laundry detergent to reduce water and electricity consumption.

Calling on companies to produce condensed powdered detergent to save the environment, the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (AISE) announced the launch of the “Concentrate for the Environment” initiative at a press conference in the capital.

AISE Project Manager Pinolo Fontanari said the voluntary industry-led sustainability scheme seeks to reduce the environmental impact of the production and consumption of powdered detergent used in washing machines.

The nationwide initiative is open to all companies that manufacture or supply laundry detergent in the local market, he added.

Participating companies must commit to compacting all heavy-duty powder detergents by a certain percentage, thus decreasing the recommended dosage while maintaining performance quality, according to Fontanari.

For example, a four-kilogramme pack of washing powder must be reduced to three kilogrammes or less of concentrated detergent, while ensuring that the smaller pack washes the same amount of laundry as the regular pack, organisers of the event said.

“There are around five to six companies that produce and sell detergents in Jordan; so far two of them have committed to our initiative,” Fontanari told The Jordan Times.

He noted that concentrated detergents will be available soon, when these two firms start supplying the local market with their new products.

The initiative will run from January through March, according to Dima Jallad, a member of AISE, who said that participating companies will place the “Concentrated Detergent” logo on their products, detailing the correct amounts of condensed laundry powder to use.

Jallad noted that a similar initiative was launched in 2010 in Egypt and the Gulf countries, where it achieved positive environmental savings in product consumption.

The initiative aims at reducing the environmental load related to laundry in terms of chemicals, packaging materials and energy consumption, according to AISE.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Environment Society’s environment awareness and public relations officer, Farah Namrouqa, said the society supports the initiative and calls on local detergent companies to commit to it.

“Jordan suffers from an acute water shortage and currently imports the majority of its energy needs; therefore, cutting down on the consumption of water and electricity is imperative,” Namrouqa said during the press conference.