(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) Amman, Oct.17 (Petra) -- Jordan has asked for more US assistance next year, as the two countries plan to negotiate and endorse a three-year assistance plan for the years 2018-2020.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury, who has concluded a visit to the US, met with senior officials in the administration and the US Congress to renew the memorandum of understanding between the two countries, which governs economic and military assistance to Jordan, and discussed US aid to the Kingdom for 2018.
Fakhoury said talks, attended by the Jordanian ambassador in Washington Dina Kawar, came during meetings with senior officials of the US administration (the White House, the State Department and the Ministry of Finance), senior officials of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US Congress, as well as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) ), which carries out development projects in the Kingdom worth about $1.2 billion, where the program of the US Agency in Jordan is the largest around the world.
In this regard, Fakhoury stressed the importance of increasing the level of aid to Jordan for the coming period compared to the current memorandum of understanding, which ends this year 2017 and includes an annual aid ceiling of $1 billion for the period 2015-2017, in light of the pivotal role of Jordan and the major challenges facing the Kingdom and the burdens incurred by the state, the unprecedented instability in the region, and also to support Jordan's reform and development efforts for the next five years, especially supporting the implementation of the National Program for Economic and Financial Reform, which stems from the Jordan 2025 document, which includes the plan for stimulating economic growth 2018-2022.
The minister said Jordan has received an additional $ 275 million in aid in 2016, exceeding the $1 billion ceiling set in the memorandum of understanding. In addition, 2017 additional $279 million will be pledged in the coming week.
The Planning Minister conveyed senior US officials, stressing the continued support of their country to Jordan and its stability and the continuation of the provision of aid through the renewal of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
AF
18/10/2017 - 09:52:07 PM
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