Jordan Times
Tuesday, June 8, 1999
Jordan, Syria agree to facilitate, develop transport systems
AMMAN (Petra) — Jordanian-Syrian joint committees on land, maritime and air transport concluded meetings in Amman on Monday with the signing of the minutes of deliberations.
The talks were conducted under the co-chairmanship of Minister of Transport and Telecommunications Jamal Saraireh and his visiting Syrian counterpart Mufid Abdul Karim.
In remarks at the final session Saraireh said the two sides discussed a common strategy concerning the reactivation of the Hijaz Railway which extends from Syria, through Jordan and on to Saudi Arabia, noting that both sides intend to present their ideas to the concerned Saudi Arabian authorities.
Describing the talks as positive, Abdul Karim said he expects economic and trade exchanges between Jordan and Syria to be boosted.
In the minutes, the two sides decided to create a joint committee to study the prospects of modernising the present overland transport system, concerning the transportation of Syria-bound goods coming from east and southeast Asia via the Port of Aqaba, and Jordan-bound goods arriving from northern Europe and the Black Sea via Syrian ports.
On air transport the two sides agreed to launch cooperation in flight catering in accordance with International Air Transport Association standards and between their civil aviation authorities.
They also agreed on convening a meeting between the national air carriers in the two states within a month to discuss technical cooperation.
On overland transport, the two sides stressed their determination to facilitate trade and travel between them agreeing to implement the agreement reached by the joint sub-committee on land transport.
Meanwhile the chairman of the joint Jordanian-Syrian Land Transport company, Hamdi Habashneh, said the company's net profits totalled JD9,877,820 between l993 and l998.
Established in l975, the company, which has a capital of JD8 million, owns and operates 412 trucks that carry goods between Jordan and Syria and other parts of the Arab World.