| Excerpt |
The article focuses on the diplomatic and economic relations between Romania and Jordan during the second half of the 20th century, when Romania was ruled by Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu and Jordan by autocratic King Hussein Ibn Talal. Romanian-Jordanian relations were established in 1965, one year after the Jordanian state declared its independence. Following negotiations between the two political leaders, which were initiated in 1968, a series of economic accords were concluded, whereby the Romanian state built industrial facilities, roads and railways in Jordan and also provided experts, technical assistance, experienced labour force, specialized know-how and industrial equipment, all in exchange for reimbursable credits and raw materials, mainly phosphates. However, because the amount of works contracted by the Romanian government in Arab or African states exceeded the production capacity of the country, there were delays in honouring the contracts obtained in Jordan. Although this led to a cooling of Jordanian-Romanian relations between 1978 and 1979, in 1980 the Jordanian King made an official visit to Bucharest in order to discuss new economic agreements. |
