Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania on Tuesday discussed means to foster bilateral cooperation, especially in the economic sphere, with Jürgen Rüttgers, prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state.

Discussions covered means to expand cooperation between Jordan and North Rhine-Westphalia in the economic, scientific and cultural sectors, technical training and youth programmes as well as increasing benefits of programmes offered by the German-Jordanian University (GJU).

At the meeting, King Abdullah reviewed efforts to bring about comprehensive peace in the region starting with resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution.

North Rhine Westphalia is one of Germany's most heavily populated states and is an industrial hub and a leading foreign exporter among the other states.

It is also home to 61 universities and 100 research centres.