Relations between Singapore and Jordan are excellent and longstanding, underpinned and nurtured by a shared destiny as small multi-cultural and multi-religious states with limited natural resources, and extensive engagement between the two nations’ leaderships, Singaporean ambassador in Amman Shamsher Zaman said on Monday.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Jordan News Agency (Petra) on his country’s national day, Zaman said Singapore “will always be grateful that Jordan was one of four countries that co-sponsored Singapore’s application to join the United Nations (UN) following our independence in 1965.”
At the political level, the ambassador indicated, “we were honored to welcome His Majesty King Abdullah II to Singapore in June 2019 for his third State Visit where he delivered the keynote address at the inaugural International Conference on Cohesive Societies.” Zaman noted that the King’s insightful message on inter-faith harmony and moderate Islam offer lessons which we in Singapore can learn from.
The envoy noted that Jordan remains a popular destination for Singaporean students to further their studies, pointing out that there are more than 90 Singaporean students enrolled at Jordanian universities, primarily studying Islamic jurisprudence and the Arabic language.
He emphasized that Singaporean students’ educational journey in Jordan will most certainly help expand their understanding of the Middle East, and help build bonds of friendship between Singapore and Jordan at the people-to-people level.
Furthermore, the ambassador indicated that his country’s religious body, the Majlis Ulama Islam Singapura (MUIS) has worked with the University of Jordan to develop the Postgraduate Certificate in Islam in Contemporary Societies program. This program is directed at helping returning graduates from overseas Islamic tertiary institutions contextualize their studies to Singapore’s multicultural context. Since its introduction in April 2019, the program has taken in its third cohort.
With regard to economic cooperation, Zaman noted that there are several Singaporean companies in Jordan in the textile and technology sectors, adding: “Through the Jordan-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, we have committed to forging closer economic ties with each other.”
The ambassador further said: “Given that Singapore and Jordan are water-scarce countries, a situation which will be exacerbated by climate change, the governments of both countries have signed an MoU on Water Resources Management to facilitate the exchange of views and experiences in water management and resources. We have also had regular engagement with officials to exchange views on regional developments and governance.”
Zaman stressed that he was confident that the bilateral ties between the two countries will continue to grow and deepen as they navigate through the challenges and opportunities emerging from the post-COVID-19 landscape together.
Also, the ambassador underlined that Jordan and Singapore have worked closely through the Forum of Small States (FOSS) to raise awareness of issues such as climate change, food security, and free trade, and facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at the UN.
“Through the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED), a platform that was set up to foster greater political, economic, and cultural engagement between Asia and the Middle East, Singapore had worked with Jordan to establish the Regional Vocational Training Centre in Amman. Since then we have conducted courses for more than 280 participants from 21 countries from AMED and Africa,” he noted.
Source: Jordan News Agency