Jordan and Romania have had an excellent partnership for over 57 years, since the two countries established diplomatic relations, said the Romanian Ambassador to Jordan, George Cristian Maior, in an interview for the news agency Petra, published on Wednesday, according to Agerpres.

”In recent years, there has been an upward trend in bilateral trade, which has benefited both economies. We believe that a strengthened relationship between our nations will increase Jordan’s exports to Romania. In addition, Jordanian businesses can take advantage of Romania’s geographical location, which provides easy access to the major EU markets. Therefore, we encourage Jordanian firms to invest in Romania and use our nation as a trade and business hub for Europe,” Maior said.

Speaking of tourism, the Romanian envoy noted that Jordan has recently emerged as one of the most popular travel destinations in the Middle East. In 2022, a significant number of Romanians traveled to Jordan as a result of numerous TV sets in their country broadcasting Jordan’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

The Romanian community in Jordan consists of over 5,000 people, the vast majority of whom are members of mixed families, according to Maior, who added: ”The Romanian community is not our only resource; in Jordan, we have over 14,000 Jordanian citizens who spent their university years in Romania beginning in the 1970s, of whom we are very proud and consider to be true friends of my country.”

He stated that the embassy intends to support the Romanian community by organizing events celebrating Romanian cultural heritage, and that the embassy intends to launch a Romanian language course at the University of Jordan in 2023, benefiting both Jordanians of Romanian origin and Jordanians who wish to study in Romania in the future.

The ambassador emphasized Romania’s interest in expanding bilateral cooperation in education, citing a recent Jordanian-Romanian protocol that increased the number of annual scholarships granted by Romania to Jordanian students studying medicine from 10 to 26. Currently, up to 100 scholarships in different areas (bachelor’s, master’s, Ph.D., specialization) are awarded, according to Maior.

Agerpres