Jordanian minister hails Egypt as pillar of ME security, stability

Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communication Mohammad Momani deemed the Egyptian-Jordanian ties as an epitome of cooperation and joint Arab action.

In statements to MENA on Tuesday, Momani said "Jordan is proud to be a staunch supporter of Egypt," highlighting Egypt's strategic importance as one of the pillars of regional stability and security.

Momani underscored the depth of relations binding Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II.

Asked about axing Egyptian labor in Jordan recently, he said "we highly appreciate the Egyptian labor and give it a lot of privileges in Jordan, but the unemployment rate in Jordan has reached about 14 percent, thus representing a major challenge."

He further said that Jordan seeks to regulate the labor market to secure more jobs for Jordanians.

As for the Egyptian pharmaceuticals registration problem, Momani said positive consultations are underway between the two sides in this regard.

The Egyptian and Jordanian health ministers are closely following up this file in order to remove obstacles hampering pharmaceuticals registration, especially administrative routine.

As for Jordan's resort to tap new markets for importing natural gas in lieu of Egypt, he said the blasts that targeted the Egyptian-Jordanian gas pipeline had a ripple impact on the Jordanian economy.

Jordan encumbered a dollars 6 billion loss as a result of recurrent suspension of natural gas pumping to Jordan due to the blasts, he expounded.

He went on to say that Jordan is well aware of Egypt's need to its natural gas output, adding, however, that the new natural gas discoveries in Egypt would encourage Jordan to seek getting quantities of the Egyptian gas.

Concerning the Arab differences, he considered such differences as a summer cloud, urging Arabs to overcome these differences and realize Arab integration to be able to confront the Middle East challenges.

Source: MENA