JOINT COMMUNIQUE BY
U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER
JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTER ABD AL-SALAM MAJALI
AND
ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SHIMON PERES
THE DEAD SEA SPA HOTEL, JORDAN - JULY 20, 1994
The U.S.-Israel-Jordan Trilateral Economic Committee held its fifth
meeting on July 20, 1994 at the Dead Sea Spa Hotal in Jordan. At this
meeting, the American delegation was headed by Secretary of State Warren
Christopher, the Jordanian delegation by Prime Minister Abd al-Salam
Majali, and the Israeli delegation by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The
three parties expressed their sincere thanks and appreciation to the
Government of Jordan for hosting this historic meeting.
The Trilateral Committee - established in October 1993 under the auspices
of President Clinton by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan and Foreign
Minister Peres - reviewed recent progress in the peace process. The
Committee noted favorably the Israeli-Jordanian bilateral negotiations
held in the region on July 18-19, 1994, and the intention to continue
these discussions next month. The delegations reiterated their intention
to energize efforts to promote further progress on the Israel-Jordan
track, looking forward to the meeting between His Majesty King Hussein and
Prime Minister Rabin in Washington on July 25, 1994.
The Trilateral Committee also reviewed recent progress on its work, and
reached agreements on a number of future activities. The delegations
agreed, in preparation for the meeting in the White House next week, to
work on a Master Plan for the Development of the Jordan Rift Valley.
Meetings of experts earlier today indicated a substantial convergence of
views on such a scheme and a common approach on proceeding. The experts
will continue their meetings later today and tomorrow, and an
intersessional meeting will be organized to unify the planning criteria
and develop detailed terms of reference. The United States agreed to
facilitate further the continued work on the Master Plan.
The Trilateral Committee also agreed to continue work on trade/finance/
banking, civil aviation, tourism, and establishing a road link between the
two countries. On trade, the parties agreed on the establishment of a set
of principles concerning the trade and commercial relationships between
the two parties in the context of a peace treaty. On civil aviation, the
parties agreed to establish a joint team to explore aviation routes,
serving the interests of both countries and flight safety. On tourism, the
parties agreed on a travel and tourist arrangement, and to establish a
trilateral commission to facilitate cooperation in this area, specifically
the opening of a crossing point in the Eilat-Aqaba area for tourists who
are third country nationals. Finally, the parties agreed to conduct a
preliminary site survey at a road linking Jordan, Israel and Egypt in the
vicinity of Eilat and Aqaba.
The three ministers agreed to meet again periodically in this region
starting in the near future. Intersessional meetings of experts will also
be organized to continue work on specific projects.
Before I invite my colleagues to make a comment or open the meeting to
questions, I'd like to say that I hope none of you will miss the true
significance of today's meeting. I worked rather closely with both the
Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, but the striking fact is that
this is the first that they publicly have been able to meet, and publicly
been able to bring their great talent to working together. That is, I
think, the true meaning of today. Now you have these two distinguished
public servants able to meet on a regular basis and work together to solve
the problems of their countries, which are neighbors that have been
estranged for a long time. I think that the language of the communique is
important, but the true meaning is the opportunity for the Prime Minister
and the Foreign Minister to bring their great talents for the benefit of
their countries.