countries.
On Tuesday, Dahabi met
Slovenian President Danilo Turk for talks on bilateral
relations.
The Prime Minister arrived
in Slovenia Monday heading a delegation comprising
members of the government and private sector organization.
His talks with Pahor, which were attended
by Industry and Trade Minister Amer Hadidi, Transport
Minister Sahel Majali and Jordan's non-resident ambassador
to Slovenia Makram al-Qaysi touched upon development
of events in the Middle East and the current efforts
geared to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
on the bases of the two-state solution and within
a comprehensive regional frame.
At a joint press conference with his
Slovenian counterpart, Dahabi thanked Slovenian President
and his Prime Minister for inviting him to visit Slovenia
heading a delegation representing the public and private
sector.
He said his visit came to follow up on
the recent visit by His Majesty King Abdullah II to
Slovenia as well as the Slovenian President's visit
to Jordan where he participated in the World Economic
Forum at the Dead Sea resort and met members of the
Jordanian business community to explore areas of joint
economic and investment cooperation.
The Prime Minister expressed Jordan's
willingness to gain Slovenia's support as an EU member
during the upcoming negotiations to back Jordan's
advanced status in relations with the EU.
He also affirmed that Jordan and Slovenia
share identical views on Middle East peace particularly
with regard to freezing Israeli settlement expansion,
supporting the Arab peace initiative and resolving
conflict in the region according to the internationally
approved two-state-solution.
The two countries have wide areas and
big potentials to enhance bilateral cooperation, Dahabi
told reporters.
Jordan, he added is close to Iraq and
this provides an opportunity for Slovenian investors
and businessmen to cooperate with their Jordanian
counterparts in reconstruction plans in Iraq over
the coming years.
The agreement concluded today on investment
cooperation is vital to explore areas of joint investment
ventures, he said expressing hope for more bilateral
agreements which would pave the ground to increase
trade volume between the two countries.
In reply to a question, Dahabi said trade
volume between the two countries is still very modest
as the exchanged goods reached a total value of 4
million euros last year.
We consider our trade volume with the
European Union as a whole unit, he said noting that
Jordan's imports from EU countries stood at 3 billion
euros whereas Jordan's exports to these countries
amount only to 300 million euros and we are trying
to increase volume of exchanged goods with many of
these countries, he said.
On the turbulent situation in Iran, Dahabi
said we in Jordan do not interfere in other countries'
internal affairs just like we don't want others to
interfere in our internal affairs. "What is happening
in Iran is an internal issue we have nothing to do
with it," said the Prime Minister.
Slovenian Prime Minister commended political
relations with Jordan saying they are based on mutual
respect and confidence and we want to see economic
relations moving in the same way.
He expressed his country's desire to
increase trade volume with Jordan which he also described
as modest. "The Slovenian government is open
to enhance cooperation with Jordan," he said.
He also affirmed Slovenia's support to
back Jordan's advanced position in its relations with
the European Union. This would in turn enhance cooperation
between the two countries, he noted.
Pahor explained that consequences of
the global financial crisis have had more effect on
Slovenia than on Jordan and we would like to benefit
from Jordan's distinguished geographic location to
find access to other markets in the region.
Regarding the situation in the Middle
East, the Slovenian premier said his country holds
the same viewpoint of the EU and its stance in supporting
peace and stability in the region as well as the need
to set the scene to end conflict in the region on
the basis of the two-state solution.
Later on the day, Dahabi visited the
rehabilitation center in the Slovenian capital which
hosts 21 of Gaza children who were injured during
the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
During the visit, the Prime Minister
listened to a briefing on the medical and rehabilitation
services offered to the children for a three-week
period. He also met some of the children and wished
them speedy recovery.
Dahabi hailed the Slovenian government's
efforts to ease suffering of the Palestinian people.
Gaza children were taken to Slovenia
following a visit by Slovenian President to the Gaza
Strip where he noticed the destruction and the suffering
of children caused by the Israeli onslaught.
