Rwanda, Jordan strengthen bilateral ties

Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta is on a two-day official visit to Jourdan. On Wednesday (Aug. 09) he met with his counterpart Ayman al-Safadi in Amman.

Biruta announced that Rwanda decided to establish a diplomatic presence in the Jordanian capital as the two nations seek to bolster cooperation.

"This is an important step to carry our cooperation forward for further collaboration in areas of mutual interest," he added.

Following a on visa exemptions for diplomats signed last February, the two countries decided to waiver visas for the entry of citizens into the two countries.

"The signing of this agreement will help boost people to people exchange between our two countries and enhance tourism activities as well as trade and investment," Biruta anticipated.

"The ongoing visit of a high-level delegation between our two countries are the result of the commitment by our heads of state to strengthen the relations between Rwanda and the Kingdom of Jordan, at both the bilateral and multilateral levels," he said.

Common goal

Both officials discussed common goals to play a constructive role in bringing peace focused on a number of sectors, including fertilizers, pharma, trade and tourism, in addition to defense cooperation.

"We discussed our common goal to play a constructive role in bringing peace, security and stability to our respective regions and beyond," Biruta said during a joint statement with Safadi.

Ayman al-Safadi detailed the signing of new deals during a presser: "we signed one agreement and two MOUs (memoranda of understanding). One has to do with urban development and housing, another announces that the two countries have decided to waiver visas for the entry of citizens into the two countries. And a third one about cooperation in the diplomatic training and diplomatic field. In total, we have ten agreements and MOUs signed between the two countries now."

The Jordanian foreign minister praised the role of Rwanda in the Aqaba Process, which aims at pooling resources together to fight terrorism.

The east African nation could host a new round of the process either by the end of this year or early next year, Safadi said.

Rwanda's chief diplomat also met with Jordan's King Abdullah II.