Your Excellency Minister Safadi,
Ambassador Lenz,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great honour and a pleasure for me to be with you here in Amman tonight to inaugurate this new Swiss embassy building. It is rare for a minister to have the opportunity to attend such pleasant events.
This new embassy is fully integrated: the diplomatic and consular sections and the international cooperation office will work together under the same roof, following through with the integration strategy decided by the Swiss government.
As Ambassador Lenz mentioned, for several years now, we have been implementing this integration process across our representations around the world with the aim of giving greater coherence to our foreign policy. Especially bringing together under one roof our diplomatic and international cooperation staff.
I strongly believe that international cooperation is an important tool of Swiss foreign policy, as well as for international peace and security.
And it is even more important in a context that is as strategically significant and tense as that in the Middle East.
Minister, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
This relocation is an indication of our commitment to maintaining and expanding our relations with Jordan. We enjoy a longstanding friendship and a reliable and trusted partnership.
In this regard, let me commend Jordan’s special role as a hub for the region. This is especially true at this time when the Middle East faces so many challenges.
For our part, we are helping Jordan and the region to respond to the basic needs of refugees and the vulnerable. Let me give you a few examples:
- Swiss experts drilled a 440m deep well in Azraq camp which now provides safe drinking water for up to 30,000 people.
- more than 57,000 Jordanian and Syrian children are now able to enjoy a pleasant learning environment in the 65 schools renovated by Swiss experts.
- Last but not least, we have provided Jordan with more than 140 fully equipped ambulances in order to improve health services for all.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Despite all those combined efforts, some issues seem to be difficult to overcome.
We are deeply concerned by the fact that a third generation of refugees is living in camps, dependant on Jordan and on international aid.
Are we going in the right direction with our support?
Should we perhaps seek a fresh approach?
We could start by encouraging humanitarian aid and international cooperation agencies to work hand in hand with science, innovation and business. I’m thinking for instance of blockchain technology in insuring secure payment in refugee camps.
By incorporating elements such as these, we will be able to offer the most vulnerable a more dignified future.
Finally, I would like to thank Ambassador Lenz and his team for their commitment to implementing this integrated approach here in Amman; and for starting to build this bridge to innovation that will hopefully lead to greater tolerance and lasting peace.