Officials from the two countries agreed a road map to advance economic, trade and investment cooperation between now and 2025 Yousef Al-Shamali, Jordan’s minister of industry, trade and supply, said direct flights between the nations will begin on March 9 AMMAN: Ministers from Jordan and Algeria have agreed a road map for the advancement of economic, trade and investment cooperation between now and 2025, the Jordan News Agency reported on Tuesday. A delegation of officials from Jordan met their counterparts in Algeria to discuss bilateral cooperation in line with the visions and directives of their governments and the outcomes of a visit by King Abdullah II to Algeria in December. The plans include projects to expand trade exchanges, inter-investment volumes, and cooperation in a number of sectors. Yousef Al-Shamali, Jordan’s minister of industry, trade and supply said the talks reflected a shared desire to strengthen bilateral ties in various fields to serve common interests and build on the success of the recent royal visit to Algeria. He emphasized the importance of forming partnerships such as this in efforts to address challenges relating to food security, supply chains, emergencies and global geopolitical factors, and also highlighted a new air route that will connect the countries. “A direct flight route between Amman and Algeria will be launched on March 9, with two flights a week by Royal Jordanian Airlines, followed by two flights by Air Algerie,” he added. The road map includes the establishment of the Algerian-Jordanian Businessmen Council, ratification of trade and investment agreements, and meetings between economic experts and business leaders from both nations to discuss potential joint ventures, officials said. The delegates also agreed to accelerate existing cooperative projects and investigate new opportunities in priority sectors such as energy, mining, culture, industry, agriculture, transport, tourism, handicrafts, health, labor and employment, and social security. They arranged to hold meetings of sectoral committees before the end of this year, as well as the ninth session of the Jordanian-Algerian Joint Committee in Amman in June. Sector-specific technical committees and collaborative work teams will be established to investigate and monitor bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest, officials added. During the first 11 months of 2022, Jordanian exports to Algeria totaled $93.5 million, an increase of 8.1 percent from a year earlier. Algeria’s exports to Jordan totaled $138.5 million during the same period, an increase of 52.7 percent on the first 11 months of 2021.