EU eyes investments and jobs in major Jordan and Syria push, commissioner says

详细摘要

The EU will gather investors for a conference in Jordan next week, as the bloc seeks to secure cheaper renewable energy and investment opportunities for European companies in “the…

The EU will gather investors for a conference in Jordan next week, as the bloc seeks to secure cheaper renewable energy and investment opportunities for European companies in “the most stable country” in the region, a senior official has told The National.

Dubravka Suica, the EU’s Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said there would be "60, 70 or even more European companies" that had shown interest in investing in the kingdom.

“This is why we really want to push Jordan, because they are the most stable country,” she said.

Europeans want to create jobs and develop skills, while supporting continued stability in Jordan and gaining access to cheaper renewable energy than is available at home, Ms Suica said.

“Of course it's not easy, but by doing this we are in fact engaging young people of Jordan to work there, to develop their country,” she said. “At the same time they are also electrifying their country and they are producing this energy.”

Ms Suica condemned a church attack in Jordan late last month, which killed nine people. But she stopped short of saying the incident would prompt additional EU counter-terrorism financing for the kingdom.

“We express full support to Jordanian authorities' investigation on this, of course, but we already work closely with them on security matters,” she said.

The EU already has significant security co-operation with countries around the Mediterranean and has made that work a central part of its “Pact for the Mediterranean”, an initiative launched last year to deepen ties with its southern neighbours.

“We say that our delegations on the ground are our ears and eyes”, she said when asked about mechanisms to detect possible human rights abuses in partner countries that receive EU funding. Human rights organisations have criticised EU cooperation with countries including Libya, where migrants have reported widespread abuses in detention centres.

文章开头，摘自The National。如需阅读全文，请前往媒体网站。