Jordan Times
Sunday, May 9, 2004
AMMAN (JT) — His Majesty King Abdullah met with World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn in Washington on Friday for talks on cooperation between the Kingdom and the bank.
They discussed prospects of the World Bank funding for the Red-Dead project.
The plan, under which Red Sea water will be transported to the Dead Sea, received world support when it was discussed during meetings of the World Economic Forum, held at the Dead Sea in 2003. The World Bank prepared terms of reference, which were discussed at the conference trilaterally between Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel for the first time.
The ambitious project is designed to save the Dead Sea from an imminent environmental catastrophe.
The King and Wolfensohn also discussed the bank's funding for the Amman Ring Road Project, extending from the northeast of Amman to the southern highway leading to Queen Alia International Airport and on to Aqaba, being implemented by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The project is designed to ease traffic congestion and improve safety standards on the capital's roads.
The World Bank offered Jordan $30 million to implement the project, among its loans planned for 2003-2005.
Also on Friday, the King met separately with US Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA), SAIC CEO Kenneth C. Dahlberg, and president of the American Society of Travel Agents. He discussed investment opportunities in the economic and tourism fields in Jordan with Dahlberg and Whiteley.
Meanwhile, the officials accompanying the King on his Washington trip held a series of meetings with key parliamentarian and business figures.
The King's Adviser Akel Biltaji met with congressmen and tourism industry representatives, and briefed them on investment opportunities in the field of tourism in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Fawaz Zu'bi discussed IT cooperation with top executives of US companies working in the field.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Bassem Awadallah briefed the American press on the agenda of the World Economic Forum's meeting in the Dead Sea next week.