Strategic partnership

His Majesty King Abdullah's talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Amman came on the heels of their talks in Aqaba where meetings were held in the company of high officials and military experts  on counterterrorism policies  and measures.  

In Amman, the talks between the two leaders took complementary dimensions  to what was discussed in Aqaba. Suffice to recall that  the King and the Japanese prime minister  agreed to upgrade the bilateral relations between Jordan and Japan to a "strategic  partnership" covering economic and political issues. 

In Amman, the visiting Japanese prime minister was accompanied by  an "impressive list of business leaders from Japan" on subjects ranging from energy and transport to water and agriculture , to name but a few areas where the two countries can join forces. 

The Japanese CEOs who accompanied Abe gave an added dimension  to  the Amman talks and in more than one way  became the hallmarks of the Amman talks. 

It must be noted that the Japanese prime minister said during the Amman talks that Jordan's  stability is "indispensable for regional stability". Jordan is shouldering an array of responsibilities covering the heavy cost of maintaining the nearly one-million-and-a-half Syrian refugees to which Tokyo is a major donor.

This added a burden on Jordan that is taking place at a time when the country is experiencing  a runaway national budgetary deficit. Yet Jordan's stability and its contribution to regional security requires a strong economic base, something that has alluded Jordan for so long due to the unsustainable  costs of maintain security and stability  nationally and regionally. 

Viewed against this backdrop, the emerging strategic partnership between Tokyo and Amman  is so critical.