Rabat and London are determined to strengthen cooperation in the field of agriculture and resilience to climate change.
Morocco and the United Kingdom signed on Tuesday in Meknes, on the sidelines of 15th edition of Morocco’s International Agricultural Show (SIAM), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of agriculture and rural development.
Initialled by the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, Mohamed Sadiki, and his British counterpart, Lord Richard Benyon, at the end of the Moroccan-UK Cooperation Forum, this agreement defines the niches of bilateral cooperation in scientific research, resilience to climate change, capacity building and agricultural innovation.
Speaking at the forum, the Moroccan minister praised the achievements of bilateral cooperation in the marketing of agricultural products between Morocco and the UK, and expressed the two parties’ shared will to strengthen their technical and agricultural cooperation through the signing of this MoU.
For his part, Benyon noted that the signing of this MoU will strengthen the ties between the two countries and help them accelerate progress towards their common goal of achieving sustainable agriculture and resilience to climate change.
The UK is the world’s fourth largest importer of Moroccan agricultural and seafood products. The value of Moroccan agri-food exports to the UK reached nearly 5.94 billion dirhams in 2022, a growth of 57% compared to 2021.
In 2022, exports accounted for 36% of the value and 73% of the volume of Morocco’s total exports to this market.
HA/lb/abj/APA