MARRAKECH (AFP) — Talks between Jordan's King Abdullah II and Morocco's King Mohammed VI focused on revitalising trade between Amman and Rabat as the Jordanian monarch paid a three-day visit to Morocco.
Trade between the two counties has remained modest despite a free trade agreement that came into effect in March 2007.
Delegations from the two countries also underscored "excellent political relations" between the two parties and their mutual support for a Palestinian state.
"The two countries have always reiterated their support for the Palestinian people in their fight for the establishment of a national independent state with Al Qods Asharif (east Jerusalem) as capital," Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddin Al-Bashir said in Marrakech Sunday.
King Mohammed VI greeted the Jordanian monarch and his spouse Queen Rania at Marrakesh airport Sunday, ahead of an official welcome ceremony at the royal palace.
The two leaders held "face-to-face meetings" Sunday evening in Marrakech, said an official source who did not specify the content of these talks.
However, Abdullah II's visit "comes in the wake of efforts aimed at drawing up bilateral relations in the economic domain on a par with the excellent political ties uniting the two kingdoms", said Al-Bashir.
With this in mind, the two countries signed three economic cooperation accords. Commercial trade between the two countries in 2006 amounted to only 24 million dollars (about 16 million euros).
One of the accords established a partnership between the Moroccan bank, Groupe CDG, and Jordanian company Mawarid. The two businesses announced they would carry out investments worth over two billion dollars (approximately 1.3 billion euros) in property, tourism and services in the two countries.
Two other accords between Rabat and Amman deal with reviving trade specifically between 2008-2012 and with the targeting practices that break the economic laws of both countries.
There is a "solid legislative foundation for commercial exchange between Morocco and Jordan because the two countries are signatories - with Egypt and Tunisia - of the Agadir accord, an free-trade agreement signed in 2004," said Jordanian Minister for Industry and Commerce Amer Al-Hadidi.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
