Morocco and Spain held their economic summit in Madrid on Wednesday, December 3, providing an opportunity for officials from both countries to highlight the strategic importance of their bilateral partnership.
During their meeting in Madrid on December 3, Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch emphasized that the partnership between Morocco and Spain is a strategic catalyst for strengthening relations between Africa and Europe.
“We have a unique window of opportunity before us to transform our partnership into a true accelerator of the Africa-Europe relationship, in which Spain and Morocco would be natural linchpins,” stated Mr.
Akhannouch after the meeting, which was held at the headquarters of the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations (CEOE).
Spain is a European leader in renewable energy and a major industrial platform, while Morocco is both an African hub, an export platform to Europe, and a future exporter of green energy, he added.
He noted that Morocco can, in this capacity, serve as a bridge for Spanish companies in brotherly countries with which it maintains deep political, diplomatic, and commercial ties.
The Head of Government observed that beyond economic cycles, the relationship between the two countries is structural, as “it is rooted in the interests of our societies, our businesses, and our citizens.”
This relationship is fostered at the highest level by the vision and constant dialogue between King Mohammed VI and King Felipe VI, he emphasized, noting that it is this continuity that gives our partnership its strength and strategic scope.
For his part, the Spanish Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Oscar Puente, affirmed that the partnership between Spain and Morocco now has a major strategic dimension.
He stressed that bilateral relations are experiencing “their best moment in decades.”
Puente highlighted the positive momentum in cooperation between the two countries, particularly since the adoption of the bilateral roadmap in 2022 and the holding of the High-Level Meeting in Rabat in
2023. For the Spanish official, the partnership between Rabat and Madrid is “essential, politically, diplomatically, and commercially.”
The minister noted that the holding of this meeting on Thursday in Madrid illustrates the continuity of the political dialogue between Rabat and Madrid, emphasizing the need for the two neighboring countries to pursue their collaboration in a spirit of mutual respect and complementarity.
He underscored the quality of the Moroccan-Spanish economic partnership, based on equal treatment and mutual recognition, while also highlighting the remarkable progress Morocco has made in recent
decades.
“The strategic partnership between Rabat and Madrid is a major lever not only for the two countries, but also for the European and African continents,” he stated, adding that joint action by the two countries “can help shape a new Euro-African dynamic.”
This entrepreneurial meeting allows for further progress in areas of common interest, as well as strengthening ties between Spanish and Moroccan entrepreneurs and economic stakeholders, declared the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.
He noted that trade between the two countries has more than doubled over the past decade, particularly in the agricultural sector where it has almost tripled, emphasizing that the 13th Morocco-Spain High-Level
Meeting offers an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations, especially in the agricultural and fisheries sectors, with the objective of consolidating cooperation in research, development, innovation, and adaptation to climate change.
This entrepreneurial meeting, organised on the eve of the 13th high-level meeting between the two countries, brought together Moroccan and Spanish government officials, as well as leaders of major companies on both sides, demonstrating the common desire to further strengthen bilateral economic cooperation.
AK/ac/Sf/fss/gik/APA