Fakhoury concludes working visit to Paris

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury concluded a working visit to Paris where he met with top officials over bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern.

He met with Minister of Finance Michel Sapin and CEO of the French Development Agency (AFD) Anne Paugam, among others. 

The minister thanked the French side for their continued support for Jordan over the past years and reiterated the importance of France as a critical and longstanding partner to Jordan on all fronts, according to a ministry statement. 

Fakhoury discussed with the French officials future cooperation between the two countries including potential projects for support under the Executive Development Programme 2016-2018. 

He outlined recent developments in Jordan on the reform front and key challenges that Jordan continues to face due to regional problems, including the influx of Syrian refugees and their impact on critical sectors, especially in host communities.

According to the statement, both sides agreed to start discussions in the coming months on the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between Jordan and AFD, which ends this year, for another three years period (2017-2019) to support the sectors of water and wastewater, solid waste management and local development. 

The visit also came in preparation for the upcoming Syria Donors Conference that will be held in London in early February and will be co-chaired by the UK, Germany, Norway, Kuwait and the UN.

At the gathering, Jordan seeks further support from its partners to its Jordan Resilience Plan 2016-2018 to help the Kingdom alleviate the impact of the refugee crisis on vital sectors and to ensure the continuation of service delivery to Syrians and host communities.

Another purpose of the visit was to secure France’s support for the “holistic approach” of the Jordan Economic Response for the Syrian crisis, which seeks investments that improve the quality of life in host communities and secures jobs for Jordanians and a fraction of the Syrian refugees.

Through the AFD, France extended three concessional loans to Jordan in 2015 worth $265.3 million. The deals were signed during the recent visit of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls to Jordan in October 2015.