Amman, Jan 10 (Petra) - Speaker of the Lower House of Representatives Mazen Al-Qadi concluded his official visit to the Moroccan Parliament with meetings with Moroccan Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills Younes Sekkouri and Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation Azzedine El Midaoui.
During the meetings, Al-Qadi affirmed the strength of relations between Jordan and Morocco under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II and his brother, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, stressing the importance of enhancing joint parliamentary cooperation in service of the interests and causes of the two brotherly peoples.
Al-Qadi expressed his thanks to Minister Sekkouri for establishing a vocational training center in Jordan, underscoring the importance of transferring the Moroccan experience in vocational training to develop practical skills for Jordanians, enhance their readiness for the labor market, and provide training programs leading directly to employment, thereby consolidating a model of Jordanian-Moroccan cooperation in vocational education.
He also stressed the importance of cooperation in supporting Jordanian and Moroccan youth in establishing small and medium-sized enterprises, benefiting from Morocco’s experience in promoting small entrepreneurship, and linking training with practical opportunities in a way that strengthens the local economy, provides sustainable solutions for employment, and forms a basis for exchanging knowledge and expertise between Jordanian and Moroccan professionals.
For his part, Sekkouri said that signing an agreement to establish the first distinguished Jordanian-Moroccan integrated vocational training institute in Amman reflects the depth of the strategic partnership between the two countries.
He affirmed his country’s readiness to transfer Morocco’s pioneering experience in vocational training, particularly models of employment-oriented programs and professional apprenticeship, noting that this experience has proven successful in reducing unemployment rates and equipping youth with practical skills suitable for immediate employment and can be adapted to suit the specificities of the Jordanian market.
The Moroccan minister stressed his country’s readiness to receive Jordanian delegations to review and benefit from the Moroccan experience, with the participation of the private sector in these efforts.
In his meeting with Minister El Midaoui, Al-Qadi affirmed the depth of the historical and fraternal Jordanian-Moroccan relations and the two countries’ keenness to enhance cooperation in higher education and scientific research as a strategic pillar for developing human resources, supporting youth, and strengthening links between education and innovation institutions in both countries in the interest of students and future generations.
Al-Qadi said that the Jordanian educational experience is pioneering and has contributed to supplying countries of the region with qualified cadres in various specializations, noting that this experience represents a model for regional academic cooperation and a driver for expanding partnerships with Morocco in education and innovation.
He pointed to the importance of increasing scholarship and student exchange programs between the two countries in academic and vocational fields, broadening students’ horizons, enabling them to benefit from the expertise of Moroccan and Jordanian universities, and supporting cultural and knowledge exchange, thereby creating a generation of qualified competencies prepared to meet future challenges and working to address any gaps related to the mutual recognition of academic degrees.
In turn, the Moroccan minister praised the Jordanian educational experience at the Arab and regional levels, welcoming the expansion of scholarship programs, academic exchange, and mutual student and researcher mobility.
He noted that university degrees between the two countries are generally recognized, stressing the importance of signing an agreement in this regard within the meetings of the Jordanian-Moroccan Joint Committee scheduled to be held in Jordan in mid-year.
Members of the parliamentary delegation said the visit to Morocco and meetings with the ministers of employment and higher education constituted an important opportunity to enhance bilateral cooperation, given the in-depth discussions on vocational training, higher education, and youth support, noting that these meetings laid practical pathways for exchanging expertise and developing partnerships that serve the interests of the two brotherly countries.
They stressed the importance of strengthening parliamentary diplomacy as an effective tool to support Jordanian-Moroccan relations, emphasizing that continuous communication between parliaments contributes to unifying positions on shared issues, exchanging legislative expertise, and enhancing cooperation in political, economic, and educational fields, in service of the interests of the two brotherly peoples.
The parliamentary delegation included heads and representatives of five parliamentary blocs: Head of the Mithaq Bloc Ibrahim Al-Tarawneh, Head of the Mubadara Bloc Ahmad Al-Hmeisat, Mustafa Al-Amawi representing the Union of Centrist Parties and National Islamic Bloc, Huda Naffa representing the Azm Bloc, and Dima Tahboub representing the Islamic Action Front Party Bloc.
Al-Qadi had begun his official visit to Morocco with a meeting with Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives Rachid Talbi Alami and also met Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Vice President of the House of Councillors Ahmed Akhchichine. He also met a group of Jordanian students studying at Moroccan universities during a meeting held at the Jordanian Embassy in Rabat and visited the Moroccan royal mausoleums, where he recited Al-Fatiha for the souls of King Mohammed V and King Hassan II.
//Petra// AF
