Cabinet discusses outcome of Egyptian delegation visit

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Wednesday discussed the outcomes of the Egyptian delegation’s visit to Jordan on Tuesday and issued several decisions, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The Egyptian ministerial team visit came as a follow-up on the meeting held between Prime Minister Hani Mulki and his Egyptian counterpart Sherif Ismael last month.

The two sides reached compromises over several outstanding issues, including registering Jordanian companies, that plan to export to the Egyptian market and amending the “slow” administrative procedures that used to delay Jordanian exports.

In the transport field, Egypt agreed to Jordan’s request to lower the tariffs on grain ships passing through the Suez Canal by 50 per cent, providing that all ships heading to Jordan pass through the canal.

The Cabinet approved exempting Egyptian workers from fines up to JD500 until the end of 2016, while the Egyptian side expressed their understanding of the Jordanian measures to regulate the labour market and address the high unemployment rates among Jordanians.

Meanwhile, Culture Minister Adel Tweisi briefed the council on progress in the national plan to combat extremism and the performance of all concerned institutions.

The council approved a funding grant from the KfW Entwicklungsbank (German Development Bank) worth 20 million euros and another from USAID worth $25 million to support the education sector in confronting the burdens of the Syrian refugee crisis.

The Cabinet also approved a draft by-law that requires construction contractors to employ Jordanians residing in the governorates where the construction projects they implement are located.

The by-law seeks to guarantee that governorate residents who are recent engineering graduates, technicians or workers would be hired at projects in their neighbourhoods, Public Works Minister Sami Halaseh asserted.

The government also decided to form a committee from the ministries of interior, tourism, public works and finance, to take the necessary measures to enhance the protection of archaeological sites from vandalism and thefts.