Jordan Times
Friday, February 27, 2004
King visits Brunei for economic talks
Agencies
His Majesty King Abdullah met on Thursday Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for talks on trade and investment.The two-day stop in Brunei's capital of Bandar Seri Begawan is part of a three-nation tour by King Abdullah that includes Malaysia and Ireland.
Jordanian officials said the King's visit to oil-rich Brunei would include discussions with Bolkiah about economic relations between the two countries and ways to drum up investment in Jordan, the Associated Press reported.
At a conference in Malaysia on Wednesday, King Abdullah said Middle East countries had “a lot to learn” from Asia and should look to them as role models for political and economic reform.
Meanwhile, a German government spokesman told Agence France-Presse that King Abdullah will meet Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Tuesday for talks on Iraq and the Middle East peace process.
Both countries have called recently for a broad international alliance to stabilise the Middle East. The King told a security conference in southern Germany earlier this month that the region was the “number one battleground” for international extremism.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who regularly calls in on Jordan during trips to the region, has suggested a joint EU-NATO initiative to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Amman and Berlin have also said they are concerned about helping stabilise Iraq, where US-led occupying forces are under almost daily attack.