Prime Minister, French President attends Jordan-France Business Forum

Prime Minister, Abdullah Ensour, stressed Jordan's absolute keenness to promote Jordanian-French relations in various investment, economic and trade fields.

The prime minister made his remarks as he and French President, Francois Hollande attended Tuesday the opening of the Jordan-France Business Forum that was held in the Amman Chamber of Commerce, with participation of businessmen from both countries.

Ensour expressed hope that this forum would open doors for more positive interaction, exchanging of expertise and knowledge and establishing a real partnership that serves the long-term strategic cooperation between the two countries and leaderships.

"This forum constitutes a new opportunity for our countries, in order to focus on joint economic goals, building on previous successes, which reflect on the bilateral, extended and fruitful cooperation in the investment field," Ensour said.

He pointed out that French investments are ranked first as foreign investments in Jordan with a capital of €1.5 billion, which included vital economic sectors such as telecommunications, petroleum, water, energy and infrastructure.

He noted that the number of French companies in Jordan reached 30, while hoping to increase French investments in the Kingdom, in the light of the latest government efforts, in terms of developing the investment environment, after endorsing the new Investment Law, which strengthened the environment at institutional and legislative levels.

The French President, in turn, said his visit to Jordan is a message to the French companies to increase their investments in the Kingdom and motivate French citizens to visit Jordan and get familiarized with its archaeological and tourism heritage.

Hollande confirmed his country's commitment to supporting Jordan, noting that France has granted Jordan about $1 billion over the past ten years, and it will give it €1 billion in the next three years, to help the Kingdom endure burdens, due to the region's crises as well as bearing the impacts of the Syrian refugee crisis.

He also stressed France's support to Jordan in the European Union (EU) with regard to the Kingdom's request to simplify the rules of origin, in order to increase its exports to the EU, which would increase investments and job opportunities. Paris will also support Jordan's demands in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he added.

He also spoke about active French companies in Jordan, such as Total, Orange Lafarge and Carrefour, as well as water and other small and medium enterprises.

Hollande also noted the agreement France has signed yesterday regarding the improvement of water distribution in the northern governorates, which aims to reduce water wastage during the distribution process.