Tarawneh calls for regional economic integration to overcome virus crisis

AMMAN — President of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union and Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh on Tuesday called on the parliaments of countries neighbouring Jordan to push for regional economic integration to collectively confront the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter sent to his counterparts in neighbouring Arab countries, Tarawneh called for “opening the doors of communication” to explore prospects for regional economic integration in agriculture and transport, among other sectors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Tarawneh said in the letter: "If the idea of total interdependence and cooperation is not possible, it remains possible to build bridges of cooperation between the countries that are geographically adjacent at least or those that share common borders.”

“Perhaps we in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan can be a model for this. Other Arab geographical unions can follow suit if this succeeds,” he said.

The Lower House speaker highlighted that the pandemic "has created a new reality and made it imperative to search for new forms of collective action in the service of humanity".

High numbers of poverty and unemployment pose a “real threat”, he stressed, warning that these two crises will be exacerbated by the pandemic.

Tarawneh highlighted the need to provide a sufficient stock of essential goods for people in light of the high demand for basic commodities.

Noting that the coronavirus crisis has disrupted markets and development efforts on national levels, he called on his counterparts to pressure their governments to forge ahead with comprehensive multilateral economic integration.