Morocco And Russia To Strengthen Economic And Sector Cooperation – OpEd
King Mohammed VI received Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov, who started an official visit to Morocco, as part of giving a new impetus to relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Russian Federation.
On this occasion the Royal office issued a communique stating that this audience is part of the in-depth strategic partnership, concluded on the occasion of the historic visit of HM the King to Moscow in March 2016. This exceptional partnership has led to a deep and multidimensional development of relations between the two countries and has opened ambitious prospects for enhancing the political dialogue and strengthening the economic and sectoral cooperation.
The meeting was marked by satisfaction with the implementation, under this partnership, of major projects and actions in priority areas such as agriculture, fisheries, energy, industry and tourism.
King Mohammed VI reiterated, on this occasion, the invitation extended to President of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Vladimir Putin, to pay an official visit to Morocco.
The Russian Foreign Minister conveyed to HM the King the friendship and greetings of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and lauded the regional and international leadership of HM King Mohammed VI.
The talks also touched on the different regional and international issues of shared interest, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.
Stronger Russian-Moroccan ties are conducive to serving global peace and security, while fighting all forms of terrorism and promoting understanding, concord and coexistence in the world, the King said.
Since the visits to Moscow by King Mohammed VI in 2002 and 2016, Morocco and Russia have been working together to deepen their strategic partnership and expand their cooperation to new areas including energy and new industries.
The visit by Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to Morocco in October 2017 gave a new impetus to this strategic partnership through the signing of eleven cooperation agreements in the fields of customs, agriculture, trade, energy efficiency, renewable energies, nuclear energy as well as military cooperation.
Russia was Morocco’s 9th largest source of imports and Morocco’s 22nd highest exporting country in 2016. Economic cooperation between the two countries remains satisfactory, and trade continues to expand. However, more efforts need to be deployed to achieve a bigger trade balance between the two countries and further develop trade and these relations.
It is worth noting that Morocco was the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Russia. The first contact between the two countries was established in 1778 when Morocco’s Sultan Mohammed III bin Abdullah and Empress Catherine II exchanged messages. The two countries then agreed to sign a peace treaty.
