Ireland and Jordan to co-operate in Public Sector Development

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin T.D., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Ministry of Public Sector Development of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan at a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart in Dublin on May 27th 2015cs.

 

The agreement aims to foster the mutual exchange of information and views on Public Service Reform developments and initiatives in both countries.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin T.D., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Ministry of Public Sector Development of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan at a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart in Dublin on May 27th 2015cs. The agreement aims to foster the mutual exchange of information and views on Public Service Reform developments and initiatives in both countries.

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Brendan Howlin TD, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Dr. Khleef Alkhawaldeh, Minister for Public Sector Development, sign Memorandum of Understanding

H.E. Minister Khleef Alkhawaldeh, the Jordanian Minister of Public Sector Development, had travelled to Dublin to meet with Minister Howlin and a range of senior officials.  The MoU has been developed following Minister Howlin’s visit to Jordan in November 2014. The MoU provides for the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practice in a number of areas of Public Sector Reform.

Minister Howlin welcomed the development stating that:

“The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will strengthen bilateral relations between Ireland and Jordan.  It provides a solid framework for the development of mutually beneficial learning opportunities. The Government is supportive of Jordan’s efforts to progress reform of the Public Sector and I look forward to sharing Ireland’s expertise in this field.

Minister Alkhawaldeh said that when he first visited Dublin in June 2012 he had learned a lot about Ireland’s approach to repositioning the public sector to meet the serious challenges arising from the financial crisis. He said that he and the Jordanian government have been very impressed by the significant progress made by Ireland since then, and he is convinced that Ireland’s experiences will be of considerable benefit to Jordan which is currently facing serious challenges arising from the recent influx of refugees, climate change effects and the impact of political turmoil in the Middle East.

A range of specific areas for co-operation were discussed during the visit and a follow-up programme of activities is now being developed. The Institute of Public Administration will co-ordinate the programme in partnership with the Jordanian Ministry of Public Sector Development.

Joe Geoghegan, the Jordanian Honorary Consul in Ireland, said that Minister Khleef Alkhawaldeh and the Jordanian government, plus His Majesty King Abdullah, see many similarities between the challenges faced by Ireland and Jordan, and they also believe that we have much to learn from each other through collaboration in the future.

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Front: Minister Brendan Howlin and Minister Khleef Alkhawaldeh

Back: Joe Geoghegan, Honorary Consul of Jordan in Ireland; Mohammed Al-aqeel, Embassy of Jordan, London; Dr. Nicholas Marcoux, Institute of Public Administration