Cairo – Mubasher: Minister of International Cooperation Rania El-Mashat headed the Egyptian side in the Ministerial preparatory meetings of the Joint Egyptian-Jordanian Higher Committee, held on March 22 through video conference. With the participation of the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy; Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Minister of Trade and Industry;  Minister of Supply and Internal Trade; and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation; and representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, the Jordanian side was headed by Maha Ali, Jordan’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, with the participation of Ministers of Transportation, Agriculture, Energy and Mineral Resources, and Health.

The meeting comes within the preparatory framework for the Joint Egyptian-Jordanian Higher Committee to be held on Tuesday, March 23, in the Jordanian capital Amman, headed by Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh within the cooperation portfolio focused on enhancing joint economic, trade and investments relations between the two nations.

“We look forward to opening new horizons for the consolidation of strategic cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” El-Mashat said.

Agenda of the Joint Egyptian-Jordanian Higher Committee abounds with many proposed cooperation opportunities at all levels.

El-Mashat affirmed the directives of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the importance of strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries, serving the aspirations and hopes of Egyptian and Jordanian populations. The cooperation framework focuses on capitalizing on the use of the resources and the capabilities that the two countries possess in order to achieve economic integration and real development, positioning Egypt and Jordan in the ranks of developed countries. In addition, it aims at pushing forward the trilateral cooperation projects between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, in the implementation of the directives of the three countries’ leaders, according to an official statement.

El-Mashat stated that the Ministry of International Cooperation is keen on coordinating with various ministries and relevant authorities to discuss details of joint cooperation documents with the Jordanian side. In the preparatory meeting held in Cairo last February, expert observations were exchanged on the outstanding issues and the technical aspects that must be completed in order to finalize the details of the documents that will be signed at the Higher Committee meeting.

Moreover, El-Mashat reviewed the results of the preparatory expert-level meetings that were held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, for over two days, where the two sides discussed the documents to be signed during the Higher-Committee meeting, in addition to areas of joint cooperation in several sectors, including irrigation, housing, electricity, etc. They also discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation, removing obstacles, and developing partnerships in other areas of cooperation such as social insurance, trade, agriculture and transportation.

The Minister also referred to experts’ discussions regarding the bilateral technical committees that are held periodically between representatives of all stakeholders. These discussions hold a great impact on solving problems that may arise in the course of cooperation, as they also proposed new mechanisms to develop joint partnership to widen the horizons on areas of bilateral cooperation.

El-Mashat indicated that the Egyptian-Jordanian Ministerial Follow-up Committee will be held in Amman during the first half (H1) of 2022, praising the regular Joint Egyptian-Jordanian Higher Committee meetings that began in the mid-1980s, which resulted in a number of cooperation protocols, agreements and documents in various areas of cooperation.

It is worth noting that the Joint Higher Committees is considered one of the most important tools for Economic Diplomacy at the Ministry of International Cooperation. It is also the most effective for establishing new bilateral cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and neighbouring Arab countries. The Ministry of International Cooperation supervises the preparation and organization of these committees at the ministerial and expert levels.

The Egyptian-Jordanian cooperation encompasses 28 sessions of the Joint Higher Committee that were held since the 1980s. The most recent meeting has taken place in Cairo in July 2019 and it concluded with strengthened economic cooperation across various fields.