Jordan has been very active in establishing bilateral trade agreements, attempting to establish a free trade agreement with the US, setting up trade agreements with Europe as well as other Arab countries. Can you tell us a little bit about your strategy to increase international awareness and relations of Jordan?
We think this region has to be integrated in the world economy, and Jordan is qualified to play a leading role in this. Jordan is an open country, our business community is very vibrant and very active. Jordan businessmen are active in many countries in the world and we think that our economy stands to benefit greatly from liberalizing trade in the rest of the world. Trade can be a major agent for growth, which is very much needed.
The Jordanian economy is being affected by regional developments, and as much as we try our best to restructure our economy, we are very much influenced by the political economy of the region and the regional context, which prevents us from succeeding fully in attaining our goals and restructuring our economy. The share of the region in world trade has been declining; figures that compare our international trade from 1983 to 1998 show that they have dropped dramatically. Yet we think that opening up the region and the borders and allowing the free flow of trade which is essential for regional integration in the world economy.
Two important issues are the Arab economic block and US free trade negotiations. What is the status of these negotiations right now?
We strongly believe that the barriers which impede the flow of trade between Arab countries should be removed. We are actively engaged with other Arab countries to establish an Arab Free Trade Area. We are trying to accelerate the efforts to reach that point, instead of having this done over a period of 7 - 10 years. Some Arab countries are trying to reduce the time needed for doing this. This is very important.
We have also reached an association agreement with the EU, and we are telling our Arab neighbours that it is ironic that are now able to trade more freely with Austria or Belgium, for instance, without exploring the potentials of trading with our immediate neighbors. So this should be an element of encouragement for Arab countries to remove barriers impeding the flow of goods and services.
Moreover, the Free Trade Agreement with the US will be big achievement for the Jordanian economy for reinforcing or reconsolidating the partnership between the US and Jordan. Relations between the US and Jordan have developed greatly of the past few years.
What is Jordan's position regarding UN sanctions towards Iraq and what, in your view, is the best solution to the problem?
Jordan abides by Security Council resolutions because these resolutions are mandatory, and we cannot be selective when it comes to UN Security Council resolutions. Having said that, we know first hand, because of our proximity to Iraq and because we see Iraqis almost everyday coming to our country, we know the severity of the Iraqi peoples suffering as a result of these sanctions.
When it comes to the long term stability and security of the whole region, the international community should pay attention to the effect of sanctions in Iraq and look for a solution which will end the suffering of the Iraqi people. There should be ways and means to alleviate and eventually end this suffering.
Of course, the Jordanian position has been to call upon Iraq to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions, and we hope that the UN Security Council itself will find a way to work with Iraq to ensure an honest implementation of resolutions. We need to give the Iraqi people a light at the end of the tunnel, and be aware of Iraq's role and its people in the region's stability and security in the long term.
The passing of the late King Hussein attracted international attention to Jordan. Now Jordan has a young and energetic King - could you comment on how and if Jordan's foreign relations have changed since last year?
You need to look at Jordan historically. Jordan has evolved as a very stable and active regional country. His Majesty King Abdullah has the benefit of building on what has been achieved by late King Hussein, and leading a country with a strong institutional and constitutional structure. The succession has taken place very smoothly and the first year of the era of King Abdullah's rule has been very successful. People are rallying around him in a very strong and impressive way. This is the strength of Jordan. It has been able to absorb the saddest event that could ever had happened to Jordan, which was the passing away of late King Hussein.
This smooth transition indicates the achievements of the late King Hussein. He built a very solid system which allowed a very smooth transition. As much as we felt sad about his passing away, as Jordanians we felt very confident because of the strength of our system. The vast majority of Jordanians did not know any other king but King Hussein, yet the bright side is that Jordanians realize that the succession will bring renewal and prosperity.
| His Majesty King Abdullah II is a young King who is very sophisticated when it comes to understanding the need to upgrade and restructure the economy. He has made the economy his first priority and is very much supported by our people, because our biggest challenge today is to improve the living conditions of Jordanians, to upgrade the economy, to introduce new technology, and to adapt to developments in today's world. Of course, this is helped by the leadership of a young, sophisticated, forward-looking leader like His Majesty.
How is Jordan supporting efforts to bringing peace to this region?
After we signed the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, which solved the Jordanian Israeli aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Jordan's role has been more of a facilitator as a country which enjoys a great deal of credibility among all regional parties. Jordan is playing a leading role in the peace process, bridging the gaps between various parties. It has been doing this for the past year. Under the leadership His Majesty, Jordan has been actively working with the Palestinians and Israelis as well as with the Syrians and Israelis to bridge the gap between them and help them make decisions regarding the negotiations on both tracks. In a way, we are serving our own interests as it is to the interest to the whole region to reach a successful conclusion of negotiations between those parties. We are trying to convince everyone in the region to understand that peace is the only option available to all of us. The sooner all regional parties will be convinced of the that, the lesser pain we all will have.
We are not discouraged, even when we face difficulties in the peace process, because we know that eventually people will have to recognize the needs and rights of each other. These rights must be addressed in a just way. It is a long-term vision, but we do not want to let time pass and miss this historic opportunity. What we are talking about and what we are looking for is not a truce but a lasting peace, and lasting peace has to be fair and just in order for people to accept it and believe in it.
You were one of the coordinators in the bi-lateral peace talks between Jordan and Israel in the early 1990's. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience?
It was quite exciting, but I think for us in Jordan our involvement in the peace process in Madrid was consistent with our policy as adopted by Security Council resolution 242. The late King Hussein worked for years and years to convince people that the only solution was a political solution. Somewhere we were gratified that regional parties went to Madrid and showed their commitment to the peace process.
Nevertheless, I believe that some time has been wasted, and we could have done much more in a shorter period of time. But as they say: it is better late than never. The beginnings were difficult, because of the difficulties we faced right after the peace conference. Now people are more convinced and they are at peace themselves. There were very frustrating moments but the political will on Jordan's part has always been there, and I think we usually don't say enough about our role.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs, what would be one your most satisfying accomplishments?
One of the main challenges is to try to make this foreign service more capable of implementing the vision of His Majesty. The King is focusing on the economy and we are hoping that our embassies and our diplomats will be promoting Jordan overseas to international investors and traders. Also projecting the real face and image of Jordan is very much the task of the foreign ministry and we hope that we will improve our ability to do that as professionally and as efficiently as possible.
What would be your final message to our readers?
People must look at Jordan in the context of the region. Under normal economic standards and criteria, Jordan does receive the attention it deserves. Therefore we should look at the regional context and environment, as well as Jordan's contribution to the maintenance of regional peace, stability and security. If you look at Jordan's role, you can see that it come at the expense of its economic growth. This is why people have to go beyond the traditional criteria when they look at Jordan. They have to look at Jordan's real contribution to peace and stability and to injecting more moderation to the region.
I think when people look at it in a regional context, they will appreciate the economic challenges that Jordan is facing. One only has to look at trade at trade between Jordan and its surrounding countries; it is not flowing as much as we would like. Jordan is abiding by the UN Security Council resolutions which impose limitations on trade with Iraq. Jordan is facing a serious trade difficulties with the Palestinian territories because of non-tariff barriers, which impede bilateral trade. People have to take in account these realities when they look at our economic difficulties. |
Ministry of Foreign Affairs