-Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Makram Qaisi, on Monday inaugurated the photo exhibition of the Jordanian city of Salt and Japan’s Hagi, which was held at Salt Historical Museum, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Qaisi lauded “deep-rooted, historic” Jordan-Japan relations, noting that the city of Hagi had previously hosted a photo show of Jordan’s tourist and natural sites. Qaisi also noted that cities of Salt and Hagi joined on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Qaisi indicated that Hagi is a city rich in historical heritage and developed concept of an open museum, and presented the initiative to Salt, as environmental museum was developed through the ” Sustainable Community Tourism Development Project in Salt” implemented by the Ministry and JICA, which brought Salt and Hagi to join World Heritage List and become twin cities. Qaisi stressed that tourism and heritage are the main drivers of the Kingdom’s domestic economy, accounting for 13% of the national income, adding that tourism file entered every Jordanian home, as it offers multiple job opportunities. For his part, Japanese Ambassador to the Kingdom, Okuyama Jiro, said Japan and Jordan have a “long-standing, distinguished” bilateral relations, based on the “strong” traditional friendship between the two countries’ ruling families. The envoy noted cities of Salt and Hagi have established “strong” relations, especially due to their “rich” historical and cultural heritage sites, including destinations that appeared in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Through technical cooperation projects that JICA is currently implementing, he said the two cities have “actively” exchanged their expertise and knowledge, hoping that these endeavors will be transferred to other Japanese and Jordanian cities as a model case for cooperation at the municipal level. He also expressed sincere appreciation to all parties who worked hard to organize this event, which would strengthen the two cities’ relations.
Source: Jordan News Agency