The Federal Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer, arrived on Monday in Morocco for an official visit to the Kingdom, which is part of the 240th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
On his arrival at the airport Marrakech-Menara, the Federal Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer was welcomed by the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch.
During this visit, Karl Nehammer, accompanied by the Federal Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, and the Deputy Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Peter Launsky, will have a series of meetings with Moroccan officials and businessmen.
The Chancellor is also accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen during this visit, and will attend the Morocco-Austrian Economic Forum.
Diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1783 when Sultan Mohammed Ben Abdallah Al-Khatib, who led a policy based on the opening of Morocco to European trade, decided to send in February of the same year the Pasha of Tangiers, Mohammed Ben Abdel Malik as the first Moroccan ambassador to the Austrian Imperial Court.
The Moroccan ambassador succeeded in negotiating a peace and friendship treaty between the two countries, in addition to an agreement on bilateral trade, which was the first real starting point for official relations between the two countries.
Today, Morocco and Austria enjoy these historic relations and continue to cooperate closely at the bilateral and multilateral levels, in the framework of a strategic and fruitful cooperation between Morocco and the European Union.
HA/fss/abj/APA
