King holds talks with Singaporean president, PM

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday held two separate meetings with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and reaffirmed the importance of developing cooperation between the two countries.

King Abdullah, President Halimah and Prime Minister Lee, in the two meetings held at Istana Palace and attended by HRH Prince Hashim, His Majesty’s chief Royal councillor, and HRH Prince Ghazi, His Majesty’s chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy, agreed to bolster cooperation in sectors such as investment, trade, military-related, education and water, a Royal Court statement said.

The need to build on the agreements signed by the two countries was also stressed, in addition to the importance of the Jordan-Singapore Business Forum to discuss investment opportunities and economic and commercial partnerships.

Talks covered investment opportunities in Jordan, and the importance of encouraging the private sectors in both countries to build partnerships for joint projects, in addition to the need to capitalise on the free trade agreement between the Kingdom and Singapore to bolster economic, investment and trade cooperation, according to the statement.

His Majesty underscored the importance of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies as a platform to counter hate speech and extremism, commending Singapore’s efforts to promote interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding.

The talks also tackled regional developments, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause, with the King urging an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution and arriving at the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.

His Majesty commended Singapore’s positions in this regard, stressing that the continued failure to resolve the Palestinian cause would lead to more extremism and violence in the region.

Discussions also covered Jordan’s efforts to counter terrorism and extremist ideology within a holistic approach, including its efforts through the Aqaba Meetings, the statement added.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Adviser to His Majesty for Communication and Coordination Bisher Khasawneh, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Walid Maani, Trade Minister Tareq Hammouri, Digital Economy Minister Muthana Gharaibeh and Jordan’s Ambassador to Singapore Mahmoud Hmoud, as well a number of senior Singaporean officials and ministers attended the two meetings

On the sidelines of the King’s visit, Jordan and Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations, and another MoU on water resource management.