His Majesty King Abdullah and Romanian President Traian Basescu held bilateral talks in Amman today on bilateral cooperation, especially in the economic and commercial spheres, and regional developments.



King Abdullah emphasized the importance of enhancing bilateral ties and building bridges of cooperation in all fields, pointing out that the Romanian president's visit and his meetings with public and private sector representatives will help open new horizons of cooperation between Jordanian businesspeople and their Romanian counterparts.



He added that Jordan, which has a unique regional location, will work to expand facilities to the Romanian private sector and help it reach the promising Iraqi market.



President Basescu suggested a number of fields in which both countries could benefit from investment opportunities.



He said the purpose of his visit to Jordan was to discuss enhancing cooperation between Amman and Bucharest, especially in the economic and trade sectors, and to find mechanisms to implement bilateral agreements signed during his visit.



He also said that Jordan will be able to benefit from Romania's anticipated ascension to the European Union next year and added that Jordan and Romania also enjoy a good relationship in the educational sector with several Jordanian students pursuing higher education at Romanian universities.



King Abdullah discussed in closed meeting with the Romanian president bilateral relations and the regional situation.



Both leaders said the international community's solidarity was necessary to achieving a comprehensive and just peace in the region, and helping Palestinians and Israelis to go forward in the peace process and to build on the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.



They also discussed the situation in Iraq. King Abdullah expressed optimism that last week's legislative elections would lead to a representative parliament and enhance security and stability in the country.



The two leaders attended the signing ceremony of several agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation, among them the 2005-2008 Executive Program for Cultural Cooperation, signed by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al Ali and Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, and a Memorandum of Understanding for the Development of Cooperation in the Field of Tourism, signed by Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities Farouq Hadidi and Romanian President of the National Authority for Tourism Ovidiu-Iuliu Marian.



The trade volume of Jordan and Romania favors Bucharest. Jordanian exports to Romania in 2004 were JD1.3 million, while Romanian exports to Jordan were JD51 million. However, the volume of Jordanian exports to Romania increased over the first seven months of this year to JD3.5 million.



Also on Monday, His Majesty King Abdullah bestowed the Bejeweled Grand Cordon of Al-Nahda (Order of the Renaissance) on the Romanian President in appreciation of the friendly ties between both leaders and both countries.



For his part, President Basescu conferred the Romanian Star (Order with the Rank of Collar) on His Majesty King Abdullah in recognition of his efforts to bolster the Jordanian-Romanian ties.