Macron’s visit to Fairuz signifies French esteem for Lebanon’s No. 1 diva

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Fairuz was born in 1934 with the birth name of Nouhad Haddad. (Supplied)
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Updated 01 September 2020
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Macron’s visit to Fairuz signifies French esteem for Lebanon’s No. 1 diva

  • Fairuz is seen by many Lebanese as a rare figure beloved across the political spectrum in a divided nation
  • Well known in France, the famous diva has received several French distinctions and held concerts in Paris

BEIRUT: Who does not know Fairuz, Lebanon’s “ambassador to the stars?” Who in Lebanon has never heard one of Fairuz’s songs? The legend of the Arab world is in the limelight now but for a reason other than her music: French President Emmanuel Macron visited her at her home in Rabieh, north of Beirut, on Tuesday when he arrived in the Lebanese capital for the second time in a span of weeks.

It came as no big surprise that Macron chose to meet Lebanon’s No. 1 diva instead of its feuding politicians or civil society activists. Many Lebanese still start their day listening to Fairuz’s songs and see her as one of the rare figures beloved across the political spectrum, a symbol of unity in a culturally rich and refined country now riven by disagreements.

Starting in the 1950s, Fairuz made her way, alongside the Rahbani brothers, Mansour and Assi (her husband), into every Lebanese household to sing for love, freedom and peace. Generations fell in love listening to her songs. The Lebanese people made it through the war with her patriotic tunes that were never too far away.




Fairuz’s wide repertory covers almost 3,000 songs, three movies and about 20 musicals. (Supplied)

Fairuz was born in 1934 with the birth name of Nouhad Haddad. Her family had settled in Beirut’s Zoukak El-Blat district. She took the first step of her career in 1947 by joining the choir of Radio Beirut.

Bowled over by her voice, the radio’s director, Halim El-Roumi, gave her the nickname Fairuz (Arabic for emerald) and hired her. That was where she met the Rahbani brothers. While married to Assi, she gave birth to four children: Ziad, Rima, Layal and Haali.

Together, they revolutionized Lebanese folk and popular songs, making Fairuz, along with Egypt’s Oum Kalthoum, the most famous voice of the Arab world.

Fairuz’s wide repertory covers almost 3,000 songs, three movies and about 20 musicals. Her career took off after her first concerts during the Baalbeck International Festival, where “she shook the columns of the Roman temples,” in the words of the former French culture minister, Jack Lang.

Despite being internationally renowned, Fairuz was little known by the general public. She voluntarily maintains this aura mystery, rarely giving interviews to the press. “Catherine Deneuve used to say that to be a star, one should always keep a bit of a mystery,” said Georges Bechara, a person close to Fairuz and who is passionate about her and her art.

“She does that by not being always accessible, which adds weight and sparkle to her presence. She does not take over television screens and magazine pages. The public adores her for her discretion and simplicity.”

Fairuz the artist is as complex as Nouhad the person. During her concerts, she adopts a fixed and cold posture. However, other versions of Fairuz exist: the cheerful, the mischievous and the joker. “In their operettas, the Rahbani brothers have often created characters similar to Fairuz such as Loulou, Zayoun and Qronfol,” said Bechara.

“Assi was able to perfectly understand the true character of his wife in order to create roles that resembled her. Fairuz was his muse and his son, Ziad, got his sense of humor from his mother not his father.”

Georges believes that Fairuz expresses herself through her songs without needing to expose herself to the media. “She has sung about love, life, death, the homeland, prayer, God … .The social side does not interest her.”

Since the beginning of her career, especially during the Lebanese war, Fairuz chose to remain discreet about her political opinions, in contrast to a lot of artists who were politically involved. “Fairuz sings for Lebanon. She never wanted to be with one party against another or support a politician against another,” said Bechara.

Throughout her songs, the Lebanese diva sings for peace and love. Whether you are a Christian or a Muslim, a Sunni or a Shiite, Moroccan or Iraqi, her voice reaches the depths of your being, transcending conflicts and identities.

In 2008, she caused controversy when she performed in Damascus while Lebanon was plunged into a deep political polarization between the two political camps of “March 8” (pro-Syrian regime) and “March 14” (anti-Syrian regime). She remains a national symbol that transcends political and generational divisions.

“Her character in private resembles that of our mothers,” said a person close to her “When she has visitors, she serves coffee and offers sweets and chocolates. She insists just like our mothers. She acts like any other woman at home, with the same Lebanese habits of generosity and hospitality.”

In public, however, Fairuz is withdrawn and very shy. She always has stage fright before shows. This is also why she avoids contact with the public and the press.

Another reason for this aloofness is Fairuz’s deep commitment to her private life, which has been filled with sorrow and torment. There is a dissociation between Fairuz and Nouhad. As a mother, the singer has been through a lot of hardships. Very few people know her deep wounds and daily battles.

Fairuz personally cares for her son Haali, who is disabled from birth, a situation that has never been easy for her. In 1978, her marriage with Assi ended along with their vibrant artistic collaboration. Her daughter, Layal, died in 1987 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Since 1979, her son, Ziad, has been composing her songs, introducing a new style for the diva that the audience was not accustomed to. This sparked a debate between those nostalgic for the romantic and popular songs of the Rahbani brothers and those adoring Ziad’s jazz-infused and more eclectic songs.




Over the years, Fairuz has received a number of French distinctions and held several concerts in Paris. (Supplied)

The relationship between Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers has always been the focus of much speculation. We still wonder who created whom? Was Fairuz the one who catapulted the brothers to fame? Or were the Rahbani brothers the ones who thrust Fairuz into the spotlight?

“She allowed the gifts of the Rahbani brothers to be interpreted. This is what we call the genius of the voice,” said Bechara. “Obviously, the lyrics and music of Mansour and Assi were exceptional. However, we must also admit that the sensitivity and the voice of Fairuz made it possible for the art of the Rahbani brothers to be consecrated. In fact, her son Ziad explained this. His mother often added her personal touch. Her voice created music. This is the power of Fairuz.”

Fairuz has generally had troubled relations with political leaders. She has always refused to hold a private concert for any head of state. “During the government of Charles Helou, the Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba visited Beirut in 1965,” said Bechara. “At the time, the Lebanese authorities asked Fairuz if she could hold a public concert at the Casino du Liban in honor of Bourguiba, a huge fan of the Lebanese diva.”

During the rehearsal, Bechara recalls, the Lebanese authorities asked the singer if she could go to the presidential palace for a private recital in the presence of the two presidents for security reasons. “Fairuz flatly refused to perform at the palace and the concert was canceled,” he said. “As punishment, the diva’s songs were banned from the Lebanese public radio. Fairuz eventually performed in Tunis, where Bourguiba finally got the chance to attend her concert.”

In 1976, during the Arab Summit in Cairo, as Fairuz prepared for a concert at the theater of “Andalusian Garden” (Hadikat Al-Andalos), Bechara said, “the Lebanese delegation, headed at the time by President Elias Sarkis, urged the singer to perform for the Arab heads of state at the presidential palace of Anwar Sadat. She categorically refused.”

“Fairuz repeatedly said that the best tribute she would like to receive during her life is having a theater named after her. President-elect Bachir Gemayel had promised her that. However, he was assassinated,” Bechara said.

Over the years, Fairuz has received a number of French distinctions and held several concerts in Paris. In 1988, President Francois Mitterrand made her a “Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters,” while President Jacques Chirac bestowed on her the “Knight of the Legion of Honor” title in 1998. It is now President Macron’s turn to honor her, which he has done with a visit to her home.


Israel urged to give media ‘unrestricted’ Gaza access

Palestinians receive donated food at a community kitchen in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP)
Updated 5 sec ago
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Israel urged to give media ‘unrestricted’ Gaza access

  • The FPA, which has filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court challenging the ban, said its members “salute our Palestinian colleagues who continue to report the story at great personal risk”

JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association Saturday called on Israel to allow news media “unrestricted” access to Gaza, off-limits to outside journalists operating independently since the war there began in October 2023.
“We call on Israel to stop the never-ending delays, uphold the fundamental principles of press freedom and allow unrestricted entry for journalists to Gaza,” the Jerusalem-based association wrote in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day.
The FPA has more than 350 members working for foreign media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
An AFP journalist sits on its board of directors.
The association criticized Israel for an “unprecedented ban preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza,” calling the decision a “mark of shame for a country that claims to be a beacon of democracy.”
The FPA, which has filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court challenging the ban, said its members “salute our Palestinian colleagues who continue to report the story at great personal risk.”
“Nonetheless, the Israeli restrictions have severely hindered independent reporting and robbed the world of a full picture of the situation in Gaza,” the association added.
The war that continues to devastate Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
With the exception of a journalist for US outlet CNN who entered a field hospital in Rafah operated by the United Arab Emirates in 2023, the only outside journalists allowed into Gaza, which is under Israeli blockade, did so with Israeli forces.
Their reports were subject to military censorship.
The UN Human Rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it “sombrely marks World Press Freedom Day as Palestinian journalists continue to be killed or injured at an alarming rate with impunity.”
The office said it had independently verified the killing of 211 journalists in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, including 28 women.
Israel’s military has accused many of the journalists killed in its strikes of being “terrorists,” members of the Palestinian militant groups Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Hamas’s attack on Israel which sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
According to health ministry figures in Hamas-run Gaza, the overall death toll in the territory since the war broke out is more than 52,400.
 

 


How Napoleon’s Egypt campaign sparked a printing revolution in the Arab world

Updated 21 min 17 sec ago
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How Napoleon’s Egypt campaign sparked a printing revolution in the Arab world

  • Greatest legacy of the 1798 Napoleonic invasion of Egypt lies not in what the French took, but in what they left behind
  • Rare books on display at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair reveal printing roots of Egypt’s modern intellectual awakening

LONDON: On Sunday, July 1, 1798, a vast fleet of ships appeared off the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Aboard the flagship Orient was the French general Napoleon Bonaparte, still six years away from being proclaimed emperor of France but fresh from a series of military victories in Europe and determined to undermine Britain’s influence in Egypt and the Middle East.

With him were 50,000 men, hundreds of horses, numerous artillery pieces and, incongruously, 200 members of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts, a group including engineers, mathematicians, astronomers, geographers, writers, artists — and 22 printers.

Back in France, between 1809 and 1829 the survivors of this group of savants would produce the 37-volume Description de l’Egypte, a triumphant catalogue of all things Egyptian, ancient and modern.

The port city of Rashid, or Rosetta, is located on the Nile Delta where French soldiers discovered the famous stone stele in 1799 - key to deciphering Egyptian scripts. (Getty Images)

Their achievement would not be shared by Napoleon’s army. A month after the landing, virtually all of Napoleon’s ships were destroyed at the Battle of the Nile by a British fleet commanded by Horatio Nelson.

The following year Napoleon and a few men returned to France in secret. The general he left in charge, Jean-Baptiste Kleber, was assassinated a few months later by an Aleppo-born student living in Cairo. 

The remains of the French army, decimated by disease and endless conflict, surrendered to British forces in 1801 and, under the terms of an ignominious treaty, were ferried back to France on the enemy’s ships. 

IN NUMBERS:

• 50,000 Men who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt.

• £30,000 Price tag of Expedition de Syrie jusqu’a la prise de Jaffa.

• 1820 Year in which Bulaq Press was established in Cairo.

To rub salt into the French wounds, many of the Egyptian antiquities that had been looted by Napoleon’s troops and scholars fell into British hands. Some, including the Rosetta Stone, the ancient granite stele inscribed with a decree in three languages that allowed the cracking of the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs, found their way to the British Museum, where they remain to this day.

But arguably the greatest legacy of the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt lies not in what the French took, but in what they left behind — the art of printing with movable type.

The Bulaq Press, established in Cairo in 1820 by Ottoman viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha, was inspired by the French press that was brought along by Napoleon in his conquest of Egypt. (Photos courtesy of Bibliotheca Alexandrina)

Some of the products of this unintended consequence of Napoleon’s ill-fated Egyptian adventure can be seen this week at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair — an extraordinary collection of rare books and pamphlets that together tell a fascinating story.

“Aware of the printing press’s potential as a tool for governance and propaganda, Napoleon brought with him advanced French printing technology — something entirely new to Egypt,” said Pom Harrington, the owner of London-based Peter Harrington Rare Books.

Just days after landing near Alexandria, Napoleon’s team of printers established the Imprimerie orientale et francaise, under the direction of the linguist and orientalist Jean-Joseph Marcel and the Marc Aurel, the 18-year-old son of a printer and bookseller.

It was, incidentally, Jean-Joseph Marcel who first recognized the third script on the Rosetta stone as Egyptian Demotic, which proved to be the ancient linguistic key to unravelling the mystery of hieroglyphics. 

This picture taken on July 26, 2022 shows a close-up view of the cartouche of the Ptolemaic dynasty Pharaoh Ptolemy V "Epiphanes" (210-180 BC) inscribed with the rest of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic text in the upper portion of the Rosetta Stone, on display at the British Museum in London. (AFP)

A first-edition copy of one of their first publications, a pamphlet containing seven reports of expeditions against Ottoman forces in Syria, is at the show.

The £30,000 price tag of Expedition de Syrie jusqu’a la prise de Jaffa (Expedition from Syria to the capture of Jaffa) reflects its extreme rarity. No copies of the pamphlet are known to exist in institutional libraries, none has ever appeared at auction and the manuscript is not even listed in Albert Geiss’ exhaustive Histoire de l’Imprimerie en Egypte, published by the Institut Francais d’Archeologie Orientale in Cairo in 1907.

Following the French victory over Ottoman forces at the Battle of the Pyramids on July 21, the press was relocated to Cairo, where it was renamed the Imprimerie nationale du Caire. 

Another valuable book on show in Abu Dhabi is an extremely rare first-edition copy of the first Arabic dictionary to be printed in the Arabic world. The Vocabulaire francais-arabe, contenant les mots principaux et d’un usage plus journalier (French-Arabic vocabulary, containing the main words and those of more everyday use) was printed between September 1798 and September 1799.

The first Arabic dictionary published in the Arabic world, printed by the French press in Cairo in 1798 or 1799. (AFP)

The final eight pages of common phrases reflect the imperial expectations of those who would use the dictionary to communicate with their temporary Egyptian subjects. Alongside more typical phrases, some of which would be of use to modern travellers today, such as “I am hungry” and “I am going to Cairo,” is the altogether less common instruction “Etrillez mon cheval” — “Brush my horse.”

One of the most fascinating documents produced in Cairo by the French press was an account of the interrogation and trial of Suleiman Al-Halabi, the young man who stabbed to death Jean-Baptiste Kleber, Napoleon’s successor in Egypt as commander of the French army. 

Printed in 1800, a year before the end of the French occupation, of the 500 copies that were printed of the Recueil des pieces relatives a la procedure et au jugement de Soleyman El-Hhaleby, assassin du general en chef Kleber (“Collection of documents relating to the procedure and judgement of Soleyman El-Hhaleby, assassin of general Kleber”), only 14 survive.

An account of the investigation and trial of Suleiman al-Halabi, executed in 1800 for the assassination of the commander of the French army in Egypt. (Supplied)

Suleiman Al-Halabi’s execution on June 17, 1800, the day of his victim’s funeral, was a gruesome affair; after his right forearm was burnt to the bone, he took four hours to die after being impaled on a metal spike. 

The Cairo press was shut down after the French withdrew, and the printing presses were sent back to France, “but its impact was lasting,” said Harrington.

“The French conquerors could not have foreseen that the introduction of printing with movable types would lead to a revolution in printing in the Arab world, demonstrating to Egyptian scholars the transformative potential of print.”

The influence of the short-lived French printing house lingered on through individuals including Nicolas Musabiki, whose father Yusuf had been trained during the French occupation. 

Nicolas later played a crucial role in the Bulaq Press, established in Cairo in 1820 by Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Ottoman viceroy and the ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848.

“Ali Pasha is seen as the founder of modern Egypt and was clearly inspired by Napoleon’s printing presses,” said Harrington.

“In 1815 he sent the Syrian Nicolas Musabiki to Italy to study type-founding and printing, and ordered three presses from Milan, along with paper and ink, also from Italy. 

“The establishment of the Bulaq Press meant that he could print manuals for the military, official guidebooks for the administration, and textbooks for new schools.” 

Bulaq’s presses “primarily used the Naskh script, valued for its legibility and formality, making the new texts easily readable.”

In Europe, printing with movable type had begun in the 15th century — the Gutenberg Bible was printed in Germany in 1455.

“The delay in printing in the Arab world was certainly linked to the notion of calligraphy not only as an art form, but also as an expression of spirituality,” said Harrington.

“It wasn’t until the introduction of lithographic techniques that the beauty of Arabic script could be adapted to printing more easily.”

The Bulaq Press printed its first book, an Italian-Arabic dictionary, in 1822. But one of its greatest triumphs is on show at Abu Dhabi: the first complete edition in Arabic of the Thousand and One Nights, printed in 1835.

The first edition of the collection of Arabic folk tales printed anywhere in the Arab world, fewer than a dozen copies are known to exist in libraries. Privately held copies are even rarer; this copy, from the collection of the French historian and orientalist Charles Barbier de Maynard, who died in 1908, is priced at £250,000.

The impact of the Bulaq Press is celebrated by Egypt’s state library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which in an online history credits it with having played “an essential role in disseminating science and knowledge throughout the country. 

“As books and legible material became available, a new class of intellectuals emerged, to later form the basis for a comprehensive modernization of the whole society.

“Other outcomes included an increase in the number of private schools and the emergence of female education. As the class of intellectuals broadened, self-expression and free opinions appeared in the press and daily newspapers.” 

The Bulaq Press “was the main force behind this historical transformation that transferred Egypt from the Dark Ages of ignorance and backwardness and into the age of knowledge, freedom and awareness.”

The advantages of modern printing with movable type, demonstrated by the Bulaq Press, were quickly appreciated elsewhere in the Arab world. The first printing press in Makkah was set up in 1882, and the first newspaper — called Hijaz — followed there in 1908. 

In 1949, a specialist publishing house was set up in Makkah to produce the first copies of the holy Qur’an to be printed in Saudi Arabia — a task that previously had been left to printers in Egypt. 

In 1984, the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an opened in Madinah and has since produced hundreds of millions of copies of the holy book in Arabic and in multiple translations.

The Bulaq Press, also known as the Amiria Press, survives to this day. Its operations were paused during the British occupation of Egypt, but in 1956 it was revived by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the then Egyptian president, and has continued publishing books and other materials as part of the country’s ministry of trade and industry.
 

 


Syria briefly detains head of Palestinian group: faction officials

Updated 47 min 24 sec ago
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Syria briefly detains head of Palestinian group: faction officials

  • An official from the Damascus-based PFLP-GC told AFP that “secretary-general Talal Naji was arrested” in the city
  • A third faction source said “Naji was asked... to report to one of the security branches and has not returned“

DAMASCUS: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command officials said Syrian Arab Republic authorities on Saturday briefly detained the head of the faction, which was close to ousted ruler Bashar Assad’s government.
Talal Naji’s detention came just weeks after Palestinian group Islamic Jihad’s armed wing said the new authorities had held two of its officials on unspecified charges.
The United States, which considers Palestinian factions including the PFLP-GC to be “terrorist” organizations, has said Washington will not ease Assad-era sanctions on Syria until it has verified progress on priorities including acting against “terrorism.”
An official from the Damascus-based PFLP-GC, requesting anonymity as the matter is sensitive, told AFP that “secretary-general Talal Naji was arrested” in the city.
Another official confirmed the arrest, while a third faction source said “Naji was asked... to report to one of the security branches and has not returned. Most likely he was arrested.”
Two PFLP-GC officials later confirmed Naji had been released, with one saying he was held for 10 hours and freed after “local and international mediation.”
The official said it remained unclear why he had been arrested.
The second source confirmed Naji’s release, saying: “He’s at home and in good health.”
Last month, a statement from the Al-Quds Brigades said Islamic Jihad’s Syria official Khaled Khaled and organizing committee member Yasser Al-Zafri had been detained for days “without explanation.”
The Iran-backed group expressed hope “that our brothers in the Syrian government” will free the pair, noting their detention comes as the group is “fighting the Zionist enemy” in the Gaza Strip.
In late March, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Syria’s new authorities should “fully renounce and suppress terrorism, exclude foreign terrorist fighters from any official roles (and) prevent Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory.”
The PFLP-GC was founded in 1968 after breaking away from the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
When conflict erupted in Syria in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests, the PFLP-GC stood firmly by Assad’s government.
After militants and rebels overran parts of the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus in 2012, the PFLP-GC’s armed wing fought alongside Syrian government forces to take it back.
The group is designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States and European Union and is accused of masterminding the deadly bombing of Swissair Flight SR330 in February 1970, as well as several attacks on Israeli civilians.


Israel intercepts missile, Houthis claim attack

Updated 19 min 5 sec ago
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Israel intercepts missile, Houthis claim attack

  • The latest missile fire comes a day after Israel said it had intercepted two missiles in 12 hours — both claimed by the Houthis

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Saturday it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, the third such attack claimed by the Houthis in two days.
The Houthis, who control swaths of Yemen, have launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, saying they act in solidarity with Palestinians.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, in a video statement on Saturday, said the group had targeted a military installation in central Israel “using a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile.”
An Israeli military statement earlier said that “a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted” after air raid sirens sounded in several areas of the country.
A journalist in Jerusalem said sirens were heard in the city.
The latest missile fire comes a day after Israel said it had intercepted two missiles in 12 hours — both claimed by the Houthis.
The Houthis had paused their attacks during a recent two-month ceasefire in the Gaza war.
But in March, they threatened to resume attacks on international shipping over Israel’s aid blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The move triggered a response from the US military, which began hammering the militia with near-daily airstrikes starting March 15 in a bid to keep them from threatening shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
US strikes on the Houthis began under former President Joe Biden, but intensified under his successor, Donald Trump.
Since March, the US says it has struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency said that US strikes hit the capital Sanaa and the neighboring districts of Bani Hashish and Khab Al-Shaaf.

 


Jordan, UK explore deepening trade ties under partnership agreement

Updated 03 May 2025
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Jordan, UK explore deepening trade ties under partnership agreement

  • Talks in Amman discuss progress made under 2021 deal and explore further avenues of collaboration
  • Trade envoy Iain McNicol outlines Britain’s 'keenness' to strengthen trade ties

AMMAN: Jordan and the UK have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening economic and trade cooperation under the framework of their 2021 bilateral partnership agreement, the Jordan News Agency reported.

During talks in Amman on Saturday, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply Yarub Qudah met with British Trade Envoy to Jordan, Kuwait, and Palestine, Iain McNicol, to discuss progress made under the deal and explore further avenues of collaboration.

Philip Hall, the British ambassador to Jordan, also attended the meeting.

According to a statement from the Jordanian Ministry of Industry, the discussions touched on efforts to streamline rules of origin and the development of mechanisms to monitor the agreement’s implementation; chief among them the launch of a Partnership Council and technical committees.

Qudah highlighted several ongoing challenges, including the complexity of the rules of origin, and the comparatively high costs of compliance and export for Jordanian producers.

He stressed the need to review the terms of the current agreement to ensure Jordanian products are granted preferential access to UK markets— particularly in light of the United Kingdom’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which offers more favorable terms to other nations.

McNicol affirmed Britain’s “keenness” to deepen trade ties with Jordan and expressed support for improving the Kingdom’s investment environment.

He also emphasized the UK’s commitment to sustainable trade initiatives, including support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and stimulating British investment in Jordan’s “vital” productive sectors.

Looking ahead, both sides agreed to accelerate preparations for the upcoming Jordanian-British Business Forum, which they said would provide a key platform to strengthen private-sector ties and explore new areas of economic cooperation.