Washington
April 13, 2012
Achieving a shared vision of economic prosperity in nations of the Middle East and North Africa was the focus of a meeting in Amman, Jordan, that included representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and the United States.
The April 11–12 meeting, co-hosted by Jordan and the United States, aimed to advance the goals of the Deauville Partnership, an initiative launched at the G8 leadership summit in May 2011.
Michael Forman, assistant to President Obama and the deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, represented the United States in discussions with member countries during the Deauville Partnership meeting on the banks of the Dead Sea.
On April 10, in advance of the meeting, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Miriam Sapiro and other U.S. government officials met individually and jointly with ministers and other high-level representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia to discuss efforts to increase bilateral trade, expand investment and create jobs, and to improve regional integration and trade facilitation.
The deputy USTR reaffirmed USTR’s commitment to forging the strongest possible partnership with each country.
“We believe our cooperation can help our partners deliver economically for their people through ambitious, concrete measures, both near-term and longer-term, to enhance trade and investment, support job creation and retention, and promote innovation and economic growth,” Sapiro said. “We are committed to deepening our ties, based on our shared vision of achieving prosperity for our peoples.”
The Deauville Partnership was launched to support the historic changes under way in Middle East and North African countries.
The partnership consists of five core countries (Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia); five regional partner countries (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates); G8 members (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States); and international organizations to support democratic transitions and increase economic growth in the region.