The benefits of the project, he said, include greater cross-boundary cooperation, economic cooperation, and an opportunity to address regional water needs. Both nations will ask the World Bank for assistance on the project.

"There is a natural disaster in the making," Jordanian Minister of Planning Bassem Awadallah said, explaining it was impossible to wait until the conflicts in the region were settled.

"This event justifies the whole World Summit on Sustainable Development," said Israeli Environment Minister, Tzachi Hanegbi. "Whether you want to save the world or the Dead Sea, you have to focus on specific actions. That is the soul of the Summit."

Israel's Minister of Regional Cooperation Roni Milo also called the project urgent and said it could help "in bringing life to the Dead Sea and can bring life to the whole Middle East. He added that the Palestinians will become partners in the project.

Arabic News

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