AMMAN (JT) - The government is working to build a sustainable rural economy to improve the living standards of Jordanians, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit said on Monday.

Speaking at the opening of the Afro-Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO) executive committee’s 56th meeting, the premier said: “The government is working to ameliorate citizens’ conditions and to enable those living in rural areas to utilise natural resources and modern technologies to alleviate poverty in these districts.”

During his inaugural speech, Bakhit underlined the importance of the meeting, drawing attention to the similarities between the goals of the meeting and the Kingdom’s national interests, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The organisation’s three-day executive committee meeting will focus on means to increase cooperation between member states.

Formed in 1962, AARDO is an autonomous intergovernmental organisation, comprising 30 members from Africa and Asia.

It works to develop understanding among its members for better appreciation of each others’ problems and to explore, collectively, opportunities for coordination of efforts to promote welfare and eradicate thirst, hunger, illiteracy, disease and poverty amongst rural people.

Jordan joined AARDO in 1963 out of its belief in the importance of supporting the organisation’s goals and activities, in order to push the process of rural development forward and enhance the socio-economic transformation of its member states, according to Bakhit.

Highlighting the Kingdom’s activities to attain rural development, the premier cited related legislative reforms including the endorsement of the new Municipalities Law, which focuses on municipalities’ contributions to the development of local communities.

Bakhit also referred to Jordan’s experience in establishing the Rural and Urban Development Bank to finance service and development projects across the Kingdom.

Stressing the importance of joint efforts to achieve development, the premier voiced hope that the meeting would result in more cooperation among AARDO member states.

AARDO Secretary General Abdullah Adam commended the strong relations between Jordan and the organisation and the Kingdom’s support for its programmes, in addition to hosting its different activities.

He explained that the main purpose of the meeting is to provide representatives of AARDO member states with a platform to discuss their problems, exchange expertise and exert all possible efforts to improve the life of people living in rural areas.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of Municipal Affairs Nader Thuheirat said the meeting presents an opportunity to activate cooperation among AARDO member states through the establishment of joint projects to contribute to poverty and unemployment combating programmes.

“International statistics indicate that three-quarters of the world’s poor, whose number exceeds one billion, live in rural areas,” Thuheirat told the participants.

Most of those people depend on agricultural activities, which do not meet their requirements, the minister added, pointing out that women suffer the most in these areas.

Experts taking part in the recent Weekly Water Week 2007 in Stockholm warned that the decreasing amounts of water in Jordan coupled with increasing temperatures, especially in the Jordan Valley, would put many farmers out of work.

Thuheirat stressed the need to involve community members in development projects, highlighting the new Municipalities Law and the ministry’s training programmes.

Syrian Minister of Agriculture Adel Safar, who is AARDO president, emphasised the importance of the organisation’s activities to upgrade the quality of life in rural areas through technical and financial assistance obtained from the different projects carried out by member states.

The organisation helps member countries to obtain financial and technical assistance for rural development programmes from several institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank.