As the calls for economic change continued in Jordan, the then prime minister, Samir Rifai, was in Qatar promoting a key government aim of recent years, encouraging investment from the oil-rich Gulf economies. In an interview with a Qatari Arabic-language daily, Al Sharq, Mr Rifai said that his talks with Qatari leaders would tackle various joint ventures, including a proposed Qatari-Jordanian Investment Fund, a regional railway link, water and nuclear energy projects and the Red Sea-Dead Sea canal project.