JERUSALEM, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli government decided on Sunday to advance the establishment of a joint industrial park with Jordan located on the border between the two neighbors.

The project, named Jordan Gateway which also qualifies the park as a free trade zone, "will allow Israeli and Jordanian entrepreneurs and businesspeople to communicate directly," Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid told the ministers during the cabinet meeting.

"It will produce joint initiatives in trade, technology and local industry," he added.

Under the project, a new bridge spanning Israel and Jordan has been built and will serve as a convenient crossing for entrepreneurs interested in the joint industrial park.

Lapid said the final details of the project were discussed last week during his trip to Amman to meet King Abdullah II of Jordan.

"This is an initiative that will increase employment in both countries, advance our economic and diplomatic relations, and enhance the peace and friendship between our two countries," the Israeli leader noted.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994, before the Jordan Gateway project was first approved in 1998.

"Twenty-eight years since the peace agreement with Jordan, we are taking the good neighborly relations between our two countries another step forward," Lapid said. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)