His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday said Jordan was looking forward to finalizing a free trade deal with Kazakhstan.
Following talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev yesterday, the King said: “We are looking forward to accelerate efforts to prepare a free trade agreement [FTA] between our countries.”
In a joint statement, he described the talks with Nazarbayev as “fruitful”, adding they covered various issues of concern to the two countries with focus on bilateral ties and building an economic and commercial partnership.
King Abdullah said the two countries are keen to entrench and deepen political dialogue and enhance ties in the economic, commercial and cultural fields.
During his two-day visit to the Central Asian country, King Abdullah also met with Prime Minister Karim Masimov on ways to bolster cooperation between Amman and Astana on all levels.
The two sides agreed to exchange technical expertise. Kazakhstan, the King noted, would benefit from Jordan's experience in communications, pharmaceutical industries and construction, while the Kingdom is interested in learning from Kazakhstan's mining experience as the country pursues optimized utilization of its natural resources.
The two leaders voiced hope the agreements signed a day earlier between the two countries would provide the private sector in both countries with the necessary framework to expand cooperation. The opening of embassies in both countries would help boost rewarding cooperation between businessmen from both sides, they said.
Instructions were already given in this regard to concerned ministries to facilitate the realization of such a goal, the two leaders noted.
On Wednesday, several agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed between both Muslim countries to expand bilateral economic and commercial relations.
The agreements signed included one on animal and plant protection and quarantine, while another deal was signed to boost cooperation in the field of transportation.
The two sides also initialed an agreement to cooperate in the field of air transport. Under the deal, Royal Jordanian will be adopted as the official carrier to Kazakhstan, while Air Astana will be adopted as the official airline to operate flights to Jordan.
An accord on tourism cooperation was signed with the Kazakh tourism and sports ministry.
Jordan and Kazakhstan also set up a joint business council.
Jordan hopes the agreements would open the way for Jordanian exports, especially pharmaceuticals, to Kazakhstani markets.
It also hopes that the deals will enable the Kingdom to import grains, especially wheat from the Asian country.
A committee was formed in this regard to study Jordan's purchase of wheat from Kazakhstan.
Although the trade volume between the two countries took a positive trend over the past two years, it is still moderate and not up to the level of political relations and the potentials the two countries enjoy, officials have said.
Jordan imports meat, steel products and aluminium from Kazakhstan, which buys oil, bleachers and margarine from the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan referred to a memorandum of understanding signed between the education ministries in both countries to cooperate in the field of training, higher education, applying IT to the educational process and exchange of grants and expertise.
Touqan said Jordan worked with Kazakhstan's education ministry to launch a Jordan-style education initiative in Kazakhstan.
The Jordan Education Initiative, which was launched in 2003 at the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea, introduces the digital age to teachers and students in Jordan through an ambitious e-Learning and Internet education programme.
Touqan said the Kazakh education minister is due in Amman to follow up on the talks and be briefed on the country's achievements in the field of education.
Talks between King Abdullah and the Kazakh president also covered common challenges and means to enhance security cooperation.
The two leaders underlined the importance of promoting the values of true Islam to counter groups that take advantage of religion to serve their own violence-based ideologies.
King Abdullah said the sole and just solution to the Palestinian conflict is the two-state formula that envisions an independent and viable Palestinian state that lives side-by-side in peace along with the borders of Israel.
The Kazakh president stressed that Jordan and Kazakhstan are working hand-in-hand to help bring about stability in the Middle East in line with relevant international resolutions.
The Kazakh president welcomed Jordan's decision to take part in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, stressing that Jordan would make an effective member of this regional forum.
The Jordan Times