AMMAN — Embassy of the kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan
celebrated their national day and congratulated King Willem-Alexander on his 56th
birthday on Thursday.
اضافة اعلان
The king’s birthday celebrations are generally known as
King’s Day, according to a press statement.
“For the embassy in Amman, King’s Day is an occasion to
reflect on the solid ties that bind the Netherlands and Jordan together. This
year, we celebrate 72 years of strong diplomatic relations between our two
Kingdoms,” said Harry Verweij, ambassador of the kingdom of the Netherlands to
Jordan.
“This decades-long relationship is characterized by
successful cooperation and coordination in a number of fields and the
long-standing friendship between the two Royal Houses. We have been friends and
allies for decades,” he added.
Bilateral cooperationSince 2019, the Netherlands has invested over 200 million euros
to assist Jordan with supporting vulnerable people and with the hosting of
refugees.
The two countries have enjoyed expanded cooperation in a
number of fields, in particular water management in agriculture, education,
private sector development, human rights, trade and security.
Just last week, Jordan provided logistical support and
facilities to assist the Dutch Defense Forces in the process of evacuating
Dutch nationals from Sudan.
“The year 2023 is an exciting year for us as we have started
the implementation of our new multi-annual strategy for our development
cooperation program in Jordan. The core of our efforts will remain on
supporting refugees and host communities, as we have done in the past. The
other areas of focus are: water and climate, sustainable and inclusive economic
growth, and human rights,” said Verweij.
“We will continue to encourage interaction between Jordanian
and Dutch knowledge institutions and the exchange of Dutch know-how and
innovation with our local partners, while putting the needs of the most
vulnerable, such as refugees, host communities, women and youth central to our
programming.”
Projects in JordanThe Netherlands reaffirmed its continued commitment to
Jordan in the coming years with the continuation of the Dutch flagship program
Prospects (implemented in partnership with UNICEF, UNHCR, IFC, ILO and the
World Bank), which aims to improve the access of Jordanian host communities and
refugees to education, social protection, and decent work.
Furthermore, the Netherlands is looking forward to
officially launching the Orange Corners program with partners like iPark, The
Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship, in the coming few months. This Dutch
initiative supports young Jordanian entrepreneurs to access training, funding
and mentoring to start and grow their start-up businesses.
On the topic of water and climate, the Netherlands continues
to link up Dutch know-how and best practices to help tackle water issues in
Jordan through, among others, a rain-water harvesting project with the Inter
Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management and Dutch
partners Acacia Water and IHE Delft. In addition, the Netherlands has committed
a grant of 30 million Euros to the Amman-Aqaba Water Desalination and
Conveyance Project.
Trade and politics
On the topic of trade cooperation between the two countries,
Verweij noted that the Netherlands is committed to strengthening bilateral
trade. Last year, The Netherlands was among the strongest growing export
partners of Jordan in the EU. A number of Dutch supported projects focus on
opening new markets for Jordanian businesses, e.g. namely those exporting olive
oil, fruits and vegetables, apparel, and cosmetics. Furthermore, these projects
also work on promoting investment opportunities for Dutch businesses in Jordan.
On the political front, the two kingdoms will continue to
give their support to the Middle East Peace Process. The Netherlands considers
Jordan as a key partner in achieving peace and stability in the region and
recognizes Jordan’s important humanitarian role in the hosting of refugees.
King’s Day is a Dutch “Orange-day”, the color referring to
the family name of the Royal House, Orange-Nassau.
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