jordan pulse -

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Roman Vassilenko, on Monday said that Jordan is one of the most promising partners of his country in the Arab world.

"From the first day of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Jordan and Kazakhstan, we have been united by the closeness of positions on major global and regional issues," he told the Jordan News Agency.

The Kazakh official added that both countries are effectively interacting on multilateral platforms, including the UN, OIC, and CICA, to coordinate their actions to resolve pressing international problems.

"The Kazakh-Jordanian relations are developing dynamically, as two visits of the Head of Kazakhstan to Jordan took place. In turn, King Abdullah II also visited Kazakhstan seven times. The last time the leaders of the two countries met was on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2022 in New York," he added.

Vassilenko hailed Jordan’s participation in the work of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, as well as support for all international efforts aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis, just like his country.

"We know that Jordan, as a neighboring country to Syria, is experiencing the negative socio-economic and other consequences of this crisis due to the influx of Syrian refugees. In this context, Kazakhstan also provides assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan. Namely, we provided humanitarian assistance to the UNHCR Office for Syrians living in the Zaatari camp. Moreover, we appreciate the role of Amman, who actively participates as an observer in the Astana process and makes a significant contribution to the settlement of the conflict in Syria," he noted.

On the economic level, the official said that Kazakhstan is interested in expanding investment, trade, and economic cooperation with Jordan. However, he added, the current volume of trade is at a low level (3 million dollars in January - August 2022).

"The main obstacle is the lack of fast and inexpensive logistics routes between our countries. We consider it necessary to work out specific mechanisms for the delivery of goods from the two countries with the involvement of large logistics companies from Kazakhstan and Jordan," he said, stressing the need to take active measures to build effective trade corridors.

Vassilenko highlighted the importance of the upcoming 5th meeting of the intergovernmental commission in Amman in 2023, which will have a positive impact on expanding trade, economic, and investment cooperation between the two countries. He also indicated that the establishment of direct contacts between business circles will contribute to the discovery of wide opportunities for mutual cooperation in various fields.petra