Saudi crown prince visits Jordan in thaw of ties, raising hope for new investments -officials

AMMAN, June 21 (Reuters) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday amid a thaw in relations after years of rigidity attributable to divergent views on regional conflicts and unfulfilled pledges of support.

The primary go to to Jordan in years by the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia comes at a time, officers say, when Jordan’s economic system is fighting the financial knock-on results of the Ukraine battle.

Enterprise leaders and officers hope it should unblock not less than $3 billion of funding tasks that Saudi Arabia dedicated to lately however which by no means materialized.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Funding Fund (PIF), is trying into investing billions of {dollars} in mega-infrastructure tasks in Jordan, together with an estimated $2.5 billion railway venture, a senior Jordanian official mentioned.

Saudi Arabia has over $12 billion price of investments in Jordan and as soon as rescued the nation with money injections, however has held off direct funds help.

Officers earlier than the talks mentioned discussions would take a look at extra methods to assist Jordan’s economic system, which has been hammered by rising gasoline costs and better meals imports. Jordan imports most of its vitality wants.

Prince Mohammed was quoted as saying in an announcement after the talks he was eager “to push relations to a brand new section.”

“There are giant alternatives in Jordan that we’re eager to actively take part in and such investments will deliver advantages to each international locations,” the prince mentioned.

Officers say Jordan’s financial strains have worsened with the tip of Gulf grants and little further funding from Western donors in the previous few years to deal with sluggish progress and excessive unemployment.

King Abdullah additionally mentioned with Prince Mohammed a summit assembly subsequent month in Jeddah the place U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council in addition to Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. L1N2Y41XY

Saudi Arabia and Jordan share deep considerations about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and what they see as Tehran’s destabilising function within the area, a Jordanian official mentioned.

Saudi-Jordanian ties reached a low throughout former President Donald Trump’s time period in workplace when Amman, a staunch U.S. ally, felt that Riyadh’s shut relations with Trump’s administration undermined Jordan’s pivotal function in Arab-Israel peace making.

Relations had been additionally strained by accusations that Saudi Arabia was concerned in an alleged plot by King Abdullah’s half-brother Prince Hamza to unseat the monarch.

Former Jordanian royal palace chief Bassem Awadallah, who was later one in all bin Salman’s closest advisers, was convicted of involvement within the conspiracy and sentenced to fifteen years in jail, whereas Prince Hamza is underneath home arrest.

When King Abdullah was requested in a CNN interview final yr whether or not Riyadh had any function within the alleged plot, he didn’t deny it however mentioned finger pointing didn’t assist. Jordan by no means publicly accused Saudi Arabia of involvement and Riyadh has not commented. Jordanian officers say the affair is now behind them.

Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Modifying by Leslie Adler, Mark Heinrich and Richard Pullin

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