Marwan Muasher, Jordan’s ambassador to the U.S., is to speak at Emory University’s White Hall on Thursday, Nov. 16, from 4-5:30 p.m. on the topic, “Jordan’s Domestic and Foreign Policy Priorities.” The lecture, which is to take place in room 206, is free of charge and open to the public.
Dr. Muasher is to visit Emory under the university’s Middle East research program, and he is expected to discuss U.S.-Jordan relations in view of a new free trade agreement.
The U.S. and Jordan concluded the agreement on Oct. 24 that is the first U.S. trade treaty that contains provisions for environmental and worker protections. Although the treaty was signed at the White House with President Clinton and Jordan’s King Abdullah II witnessing the event, it will not become effective until enabling legislation is passed by the U.S. Congress and the Jordanian parliament.
The agreement’s labor and environment provisions have been cited by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office as a model for other trade agreements. The treaty also calls for opening markets in services and the removal of barriers to electronic commerce.
The agreement does not require Jordan to change its environmental or labor laws and includes dispute resolution procedures that rely primarily on consultations and non-binding recommendations from a settlement panel. Nor does it affect U.S. trade with joint Israeli-Jordanian industrial zones that produce goods that are exported duty-free to the U.S.
U.S. imports from Jordan now amount to some $11 million worth of goods annually, primarily textiles and clothing.
Dr. Muasher has a Ph.D. in computer engineering, which he received from Purdue University in 1981. From 1996-97, he was the Jordanian government’s minister of information, and from 1995-97, he was its ambassador to Israel. He also was spokesman and member of the Jordanian delegation to the Middle East Peace Talks from 1991-94.
For more information, call Diane J. Rieger at (404) 727-2798 or send an e-mail to djames@emory.edu
by Greg Sale