Jordan desires to conclude a government-to-government agreement with Tokyo on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy so the Middle East country can build a nuclear power plant with the help of Japanese technology, new Jordanian Ambassador Demiye Haddad said Tuesday.
"The conclusion of the agreement is vital for Jordan to utilize Japan's world-class nuclear power generation technology at the private sector and complete the country's first nuclear power plant by the end of the next decade," Haddad said during a visit to The Japan Times.
The new ambassador said the Japan-Jordan relationship should be converted from a donor-recipient model to what he termed a "partnership relationship," with the Japanese private sector deeply committed to Jordan's economic development, particularly in energy.
"It is high time for the two countries to bring bilateral relations to a new and second stage," Haddad stressed.
Jordan, after Egypt the second-largest Middle Eastern recipient of Japanese official development assistance, relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its energy needs. But the country has a rich uranium reserve, said Haddad, who officially became ambassador Oct. 16.
Japan's involvement in Jordan's nuclear power development plan would serve the interests of Japanese businesses in the long term, he said.
"Jordan could serve as a hub for Japanese business interests to penetrate the promising Middle East region commercially and technologically," he said.
He also urged Japan to set up a research center on clean energy technology in Jordan.
