Iraq and Jordan have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up joint projects to exploit rocks and other minerals along their border, their press said on Friday.
Jordan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Al-Khrabsheh and Iraqi Industry and Minerals Minister Manhal Khabbaz inked the agreement in Amman on Thursday after singing another accord to build a border economic zone.
Kharabseh, quoted by Al-Ghad and other Jordanian papers, said joint projects by the public and private sectors in the two Arab countries would “tap phosphate rocks and other raw materials for light industries.”
“We agreed to prepare a list of joint projects to utilize border raw materials to support the industrial sector in the two countries….we also agreed to establish a joint geological database for such projects,” the Minister said, adding that he expects the database to be ready before the end of this year.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
