Jordanian ministers will travel to Iraq on Friday, August 24, for a mission to build on bilateral trade agreements, Prime Minister Ali Abu Raghib said. "The delegation will seek to implement the accords between the two countries," Abu Raghib told AFP in an interview Thursday.
"We are satisfied with the level of our trade relations with Iraq," he said, dismissing concern that a recent trade deal between Iraq and Syria could affect ties between Amman and Baghdad.
"Iraq's purchasing capacity has increased with the rise in oil prices (worldwide) and that means it can buy more goods from more countries," he said. Iraq is the main market for Jordanian exports.
The delegation, led by Energy Minister Muhammad Bataynah and Trade and Industry Minister Wassif Azar, will be trying to expand on a trade protocol under which it currently worth $450 million of goods to Iraq annually.
Amman relies totally on oil imports from Iraq, which supplies it with five million tons of crude oil per year, half for free and the rest at a preferential rate. Concern in Amman mounted after Syria and Iraq signed a series of cooperation agreements earlier this month. ― (AFP, Amman)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
