(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) Prime Minister Mulki said Jordan exerts every possible effort with influential countries for the return of the Palestinians and Israelis to serious and real negotiations to achieve peace and set up an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution. He said Tokyo can play a key role in enhancing the opportunities for peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
Welcoming the Jordanian delegation, Abe said the visit will build on the friendship and cooperation ties between the two countries, noting that Jordan is a key pillar of security and stability in the Middle East and pledging support for the Kingdom's efforts.
He also referred to Jordan's important role in fighting terrorism and extremism and commended the enormous efforts it had undertaken to deal with the repercussions of the Syrian crisis and provide basic services to 1.3 Syrian refugees.
In a joint press conference with Abe, Mulki said he was honored to meet members of the Japanese cabinet, members of the Diet and representatives of Japanese development institutions and business community.
He said the two countries have always shared a unique friendship and strategic partnership spanning across many decades and covering a comprehensive range of issues, "solidified by the exceptional bonds of friendship between our Royal and the Japanese Imperial Families".
Mulki said the two sides held "a very constructive and comprehensive" meeting on ways to deepen the bilateral strategic partnership, economic cooperation, including ways to increase tourism, expanding Japanese investments in Jordan and assisting Japanese firms to realize opportunities across the Middle East.
He thanked Japan for its continued support to Jordan, in terms of technical assistance, financial development grants, budget support as well as humanitarian aid and resilience aid to refugees and host communities respectively.
Japan's assistance, he pointed out, has clearly contributed to supporting Jordan's reform, resilience and sustainable development path.
He said that in all the discussions, he underscored the critical importance to sustain Japan's support to maintain its economic resilience, achieve fiscal stability and bridge the financing gap. "We also count on Japan's leading role with the international community to sustain support to Jordan at increased levels as per London and Brussels commitments", he added.
Jordan and Japan, he said, will also be holding their annual Policy Dialogue on Development Cooperation in the last quarter of 2017 in Tokyo, in addition to holding annually the Jordanian-Japanese Joint Committee on Military Cooperation.
He said the talks also provided the opportunity to discuss collective efforts to counter the threat of terrorism, adding that Jordan is continuing its drive to combat extremist ideology.
"We agreed that joint action, in the context of a holistic approach, is imperative", he said, adding that "our countries are determined to fight this evil epidemic, on all fronts and dismantle the environment of despair on which terrorism thrives".
He said the talks also dealt with regional and global matters, including the recent developments in Syria and Iraq as well as the Middle East Peace Process and the need to push for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Mulki said Jordan looked forward to continuing work with Japan on pursuing peace, stability and security in the Middle East and beyond, he told the press conference, noting Japan's role in efforts to achieve Palestinian-Israeli peace.
He said Japan's "honest broker" status, and its many initiatives, including the Corridor for Peace and Prosperity can help bring us closer to the goal of solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the core issue of the Middle East, on the basis of Arab Peace Initiative and the two-state solution that would allow for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state on the lines of 4the of June, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with a secure Israel.
He said the two sides also exchanged views on Syrian and the recent efforts by Jordan on an agreement reached last week in Amman between Jordan, the United States and the Russian Federation to establish the ceasefire in south-west of Syria and efforts towards de-escalation zones in south Syria.
Mulki said they also discussed the situation in Iraq, where Jordan welcomes the recent military achievements in Mosul led by the Iraqi Army and in coordination with the international coalition against Daesh.
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15/7/2017 - 06:34:09 PM
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