Jordan's trade and transport ministers, Wassef Azar and Mohamed al-Kalaldeh, Wednesday discussed with Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Mohamed Rashid ways to improve the two countries' cooperation, Iraq's official INA agency reported.
The discussion centred on "ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation in the oil area between the two brother countries" within the framework of the oil agreement signed between Baghdad and Amman.
Despite the embargo on Iraq by the United Nations since August 1990, Baghdad and Amman are linked by an oil agreement and a trade protocol.
For the year 2000, the agreements cover Jordanian exports worth 300 million dollars in exchange for 4.8 million tones of Iraqi crude, half free and half at discount prices.
Jordan exported products with a total value of 843 million dollars as part of the UN-sponsored "oil-for-food" programme from when it started in December 1996 until the end of 1999.
During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), Iraqi trade depended totally on the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba.
That dependence continued with the start of the international embargo on Iraq in 1990, but has dropped sharply over the last four years as Baghdad has opted for the Gulf, Iran and Syria. – (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
