AMMAN -- The Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) and their Polish counterpart will sign a cooperation agreement to exchange expertise and training, Lt. Gen. Waldemar Skrzypczak, undersecretary of state at the Polish ministry of defence said on Sunday.
The Polish official made the remarks at the opening of the ninth Polish-Jordanian Business Forum and the first Regional Business Forum "Poland Closer" that took place in Amman, with the participation of senior Jordanian and Polish government and military officials, in addition to representatives of 60 Polish companies.
On Saturday, Skrzypczak said at another forum that it was decided in 2011 to develop the final draft of the agreement between the two armies. It was endorsed at a working level last December.
Currently, the document is being approved by the two countries, and the military agreement is expected to be signed within three months, he noted.
Speaking at the opening of Sunday's forum, Brig. Gen. Omar Khaldi, JAF chief-of-staff for strategic planning, said: "This gathering comes at a time when the security of this region is posing challenges, and most of the countries have adopted techniques to counter them."
"The alarming escalation in Syria has stretched Jordan's security capabilities to the limit, given the proximity of the threat resulting from the influx of half-a-million refugees," the JAF official said, noting that no country in the past few years has been a destination for such a large number of refugees, with the number of Syrian refugees expected to reach two million.
But Khaldi stressed that holding this one-day forum in Amman for the second consecutive year was a clear indication of the importance of Jordan.
"This is due partially to the state of cooperation [between Jordan and Poland] and the feeling of security in this country," he noted.
Shadi Majali, chairman of the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), noted that KADDB is open for signing agreements with Poland in the field of designing and developing defence products and security solutions.
"We are open for cooperation, including both joint development and joint investment with Poland. Although our national market is small, we have a regional market as well," Majali said at the forum.
Bogustaw Winid, the Polish undersecretary of state for security policy at the Polish foreign ministry, announced the signing of a cooperation agreement for research and development between Polish defence manufacturers and KADDB.
"For Poland, Jordan is a hub to contract other neighbouring countries," he noted.
Participants at the forum, organised in cooperation with Jordan European Business Association, also addressed business cooperation and potential investment opportunities between the two countries.
Trade Minister Hatem Halawani said the forum was an opportunity for more joint investments to enhance trade.
In this regard, Mariusz Haladyj, undersecretary of state at the Polish ministry of economy, said the ministry will do its "best to facilitate trade between the two countries".
© Jordan Times 2013
