Jordan discusses cooperation with India, France

AMMAN — Jordan and India on Monday discussed ways to boost cooperation, especially in technical and development fields.

During a meeting with India’s Ambassador to Jordan Anil Trigunayat, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury highlighted the current challenges resulting from regional conditions, stressing that they will not impede the government’s development and reform programmes, according to a ministry statement.

He also highlighted economic burdens borne by Jordan as a result of hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Fakhoury underscored the importance of the international community’s support for the Kingdom through direct aid to the government that can mitigate the impact of the crisis and help Jordan pursue its humanitarian mission. 

He stressed that the support for Jordan not only reflects on the country’s security but also on Europe’s and the world’s stability.

In this context, Trigunayat informed Fakhoury about India’s decision to extend, bilaterally, cash assistance of $0.5 million to the government of Jordan as part of the pledge made at the third Pledging Conference on Syria, which was held in Kuwait in March 2015.

The aid, which has already been transferred to Jordan, constitutes the first ever cash assistance from the Indian government to the Jordanian government, an embassy statement said.

The assistance seeks to reduce the impact of the refugee crisis on Jordan, which has received more than 600,000 Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.

Last year, a total of $0.5 million was paid to Jordan Response Fund.

Over the past four years, around 4 million Syrian people fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, and around 6.5 million people have been internally displaced, according to UN figures.

Fakhoury commended the distinguished Indo-Jordanian relations and India’s assistance to meet the needs of Syrian refugees, the ministry statement said.

Discussions also addressed ways to increase cooperation in development projects, investments, technical assistance, scholarships and expertise exchange.

Also on Monday, Fakhoury met with the special French envoy to the Middle East and North Africa on climate change, Stéphane Gompertz, and France’s Ambassador to Jordan Caroline Dumas.

Gompertz is currently visiting Jordan to rally support for the 21th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change (CoP21), also known as the “2015 Paris Climate Change Conference”.

The conference will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

At the meeting, the two sides reviewed ongoing cooperation and Jordan’s role in reducing climate change.

Fakhoury highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts to eliminate climate change, citing transport-related and renewable energy projects and encouraging the use of hybrid and electric cars

He thanked the French government for its support to Jordan, expressing hope that France will further support Jordan’s projects in this domain.  

He also highlighted the country’s recently launched economic blueprint “Jordan 2025”, governorate development programmes and Jordan’s plans for decentralisation.

Gompertz commended Jordan’s ambitious projects on climate change and underlined the “Green Climate Fund”, which seeks to finance development projects to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Dumas stressed the strong Jordanian-French relations and her country’s continued support for Jordan, especially through the French Development Agency.