His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday met with a group of Chilean businessmen, currently visiting the Kingdom to discuss ways to boost trade and investment ties between the two countries.

During the meeting, King Abdullah underlined the importance of building bridges of communication between Arab states and Latin American countries, especially with Arab businessmen there, to expand joint commercial relations.

The King highlighted opportunities for the Chilean private sector in Jordan, especially in the fields of tourism, construction, information technology, defence industries, agriculture, and energy and mining.

Jordan and Chile are members of the World Trade Organisation and both states have free trade agreements with the US that would expand the benefits of cooperation between them.

King Abdullah also highlighted Jordan's programmes and plans to achieve sustainable development and strengthen the economy, underlining the importance of enhancing partnerships with other countries' private sectors to realise these goals.

Jordan is currently working to implement megaprojects in the areas of water, energy and transport, the King told the delegation, which grouped representatives of the Chile-Arab Business Council.

Commending the Kingdom's favourable investment environment, the delegates, chaired by Chilean businessman Jose Said, expressed their desire to boost economic cooperation with Jordan.

During King Abdullah's visit to Chile last year, the governments of Jordan and Chile signed memoranda of understanding in the fields of tourism and investment promotion. They also signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of public works and housing.

Several Jordanian companies also signed agreements with their Chilean counterparts during the visit.