Background:

Three different subjects are addressed in the following recording:

ʾUmayya Ṭūqān, a Jordanian economist and later Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan is talking at a press conference about the upcoming second edition of the MENA summit. The summit was initiated by U.S. and Russian presidents with the support and endorsement of the EU, Canada, and Japan and was held from the 29th to 31st October 1995 in Amman, Jordan. Jordan offers attractions, antiquities and nature, exemplified by Petra, Jerash, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, and the Dead Sea.

For more information on this topic please refer to the tape: Jordanian Politician al-Rawābdah’s take on the Palestinian Diaspora/ Jordanian Economist Ṭūqān and the summit

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/jordanian-politician-al-raw%C4%81bdah%...

and

Restorations of the Hanging Church-Old Cairo/MENA Summit 1995 with Jordanian Economist ʾUmayyah Ṭūqān II

http://arabwestreport.info/en/restorations-hanging-church-old-cairomena-...


The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf is a part of the Arab Evangelical Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. It has been founded in Salt, Jordan, in 1964. The organization focuses on helping and education deaf children, as well as children with other disabilities. The organization is led by brother Andrew de Carpentier.

The press conference with the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities ʿAbd El-ʾIlah El-Khaṭīb addresses the beginning of serious developments in the tourism sector in Jordan. This is seen to be anoutcome of the Washington Declaration peace treaty between Jordan and Israel and the Oslo Accords, as tourism depends on peace and security.


For more information on this topic, please refer to the tape: Press Conference with the Jordanian Minister of Tourism in 1995/Press Conference with the Jordanian Minister of Water in 1995

http://arabwestreport.info/en/press-conference-jordanian-minister-touris...

Side A:

Part 1:

The main topic of interest in the continuation of this press conference is ʾUmayya Ṭūqān’s predictions for the upcoming MENA summit and the challenges they face. Firstly, ʾUmayya Ṭūqān addresses the issue of the Israeli opposition to the peace process and expresses a belief in the rule of law in these contexts. He also acknowledges that Jordan also has opposition to the peace process and that that of Israel does not have much influence in Jordanian politics. He suggests the strategy of getting “benefit on the ground” and “coming up with concrete results” to build the credibility of the peace process and weakened that of the opposition. On the topic of what determines the success of the upcoming summit, he underlines that “the problems lie in political issues” not organisational. He stresses his view that the participation and involvement of the international community, especially, the business community determines the success on the summit. On the other hand, it is the organisers’ duty to facilitate and “reconcile differences before they appear”, which they have been doing the last few months. He exemplifies this by EU-U.S. disagreements on the financing mechanism and the Red Sea – Dead Sea Canal. He also brings up their desire to “treat everyone with the same courtesy and the same importance”, striving to not make the private sector feel “equal to prime ministers and heads of state”. He expresses that “if it succeeds totally we would be very very fortunate and lucky”, and that it is fine if it only succeeds 50-70%, despite the organisers having done their best. As an example of what “might detract a little bit from” the success, he brings up the issue the differing positions of Europe and the US on the proposed Middle East Development Bank, saying that they are trying to find a solution, having suggested a two-bank solution. But, despite problems like this, he focuses on the bigger picture of new projects, contacts, networking and increased cooperation in the region as the main determents of the success of the summit.

Part 2:

Andrew de Carpentier tells about the situation of Iraqi people who fled to Jordan. The Iraqis are happy to be able to stay in Jordan legally, and they hope the situation in their home country will improve. Carpentier has built a school for deaf children. Because of the lack of space at schools for disabled children, de Carpentier’s organisation, The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf, set up programs to teach children at their own homes. The organisation also set up programs for children with different disabilities, and also educate people to work with these children. These programs are not just meant for people from Jordan, but also for other Arabic countries.
 
When the recording starts again, de Carpentier explains the relationship between the Muslims and Christians, and calls it a relaxed one. The Royal family shows respect to both religious groups, and so does the population. There is little dialogue between Christians and Muslims, except on an academic level. He mentions extremists as a potential threat. When he is being asked about Prince Hassan of Jordan and his aleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, he says he has always been surprised to hear this rumour. De Carpentier is positive about Prince Hassan’s work as an author. When it comes to Christian – Muslim relations, de Carpentier says there are two groups of people in Jordan: People who travel a lot and are able to see how things go in other countries, and a lower class of people who take the view of the royal family as it is. He hopes the lowest class will become more educated so that they can understand the relations between Muslims and Christians and will not easily radicalise. De Carpentier further says that Christians in Jordan are not as frightened of Islamic radicalisation as Christians in Egypt.

Side B:
The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities ʿAbd El-ʾIlah El-Khaṭīb addresses the beginning of serious developments in the tourism sector in Jordan as a result of the new stability in the region. The minister wishes tourism will take off and start playing a role in the economy by providing jobs and increasing the country’s earnings from foreign exchange. Preliminary numbers suggest a 28% increase in tourism in the first 8 months of 1995 compared to the same period in 1994. Further, the international (non-Arab) tourism increased by 48%, in addition Jordan has received around 72 000 Israelis since the beginning of 1995. Arab tourism continues to constitute around half of the country’s tourism. This has led to many new investors entering the sector, a development that presents the authorities with the dilemma of allowing as many people as possible to visit the sites and at the same time preserving these sites as they are of a fragile nature. An estimated 10-11% of Jordan’s GNP was earned from tourism in Jordan in 1994. The market naturally increased after the treaty with Israel and it’s also benefitting the region as a whole, with Israel experiencing a substantial increase in tourism as well. Common projects to stimulate tourism are under planning. The development of Russian tourism was not noticed as much as it was in Egypt, but the their number increased from 4,000 to 18,000 from 1994 to 1995. On the question of joint tours, the minister responds that some operators have been promoting Jordan combined with The West Bank, Israel, Syria or Egypt for years.

A comment is made about expensive Jordanian hotels but ʿAbd El-ʾIlah states that actually, in terms of real money the prices have not increased in 3-4 years, as they are set by the government, adding that he does “not think it should be like this for ever”. Further, max rates are rarely used as most tourists come on packet tours, for less than $100 per night. He names the Gulf wars and the Lebanon war as reasons for the stagnation in the expansion of the hotel capacity in the last 10 years, as it was less than the increase in tourism. However, the government had licensed the construction of around 3,500 new hotel rooms in Jordan at the time. The problem of stagnation in Aqaba is addressed, and the minister says they are opening up locations in both the south coast of Aqaba and in the city of Aqaba itself. Regional tourism developments in the triangle between Jordan, Israel and Egypt, also called The Red Sea Riviera is promoted with plans for a common main airport for the cities, a railway or a ring road are being discussed but there is no concrete projects yet. ʿAbd El-ʾIlah prioritizes the Dead Sea area and the Aqaba area for tourist development as the previous period did not allow this, especially as the Dead Sea has a potential for therapeutic and medical facilities. Also, Amman, that continues to be the hub for tourism to Jordan, where international chains do joint projects with the Jordanian private sector illustrating a demand for having a presence in the Jordanian market. Another priority is developing needed services for the tourists at sites to meet the growing demand. On the question of excavations, he responds that there is a need to improve the circulation of tourists in Petra, as not all antiquities in Petra are accessible to tourists. In addition, only a small percentage of the antiquities there have been excavated and in Jerash conservation and rebuilding is needed. The issue of expropriation of landowners in the Jerash area, as a whole town was built on the ruins of the ancient city, is raised and the minister acknowledges the issue in the end but thinks protecting antiquities is important to countries like Jordan.

Further, when the economical return from tourism starts to be noticed they will be in a better position to convince people that “the protection of antiquities is a prerequisite to sustaining tourism” and the development resulting from it. He expresses a wish to get the local communities “on board” as this will help the “protection of antiquities to be done in a proper way”. On the question of the touristic potential of springs and mineral waters, he says they hope to connect Ma’an to the Dead Sea area. Some local investors with European associates have been looking at the possibility of utilizing the old Hijaz railway, especially focusing on the line from Aqaba to Ma’an, and then shuttling them by bus to Petra because of the attractive scenery on the line. This would involve technical requirements, updating of the railroad and some adjustments. Tourism was one of the three sectors that are covered by the investment law of 1995. However, even before the adoption of the new law tourism has been a sector where the foreign investor could have full ownership of their tourism projects, and after the law the same applied for virtually in any sector in Jordan. On the question of the portion of foreign investors in the country, the minister states that involvement has so far been joint ventures, but that with the adoption of the then new law and with the new developments in the region, they were witnessing increasing interest by foreign investors to get to direct investment, especially in tourism.