King's visit to Spain opens wide horizons for bilateral cooperation
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 9/16/2000

Morocco's King Mohammed VI starts on Monday a three-day official visit to Spain, that is viewed as a landmark in fostering mutual understanding between the two peoples.

The Royal visit is meant to give new momentum to bilateral cooperation at a moment the governments of the two countries voice resolve to intensify dialog in order to overcome all pending problems and contribute to the consolidation of understanding between the Moroccan and Spanish civil societies.

The King's trip to Madrid is primarily meant to give a new impetus to the efforts for further rapprochement between the two nations, both determined to overcome misunderstandings and settle the problems that hamper their march towards an exemplary north-south cooperation.

The Royal visit will actually be marked by the signing of several cooperation accords and will provide opportunity to speed up the implementation of the accords concluded during the 5th meeting of the high joint commission held in May 1999.

Morocco and Spain are bound by a treaty of friendship, neighborliness and cooperation, signed in 1991 in Rabat. The treaty is the first of its kind signed by Spain with an African or an Arab nation.

Morocco, an emerging country, aspires to a more balanced cooperation and invites Spanish investors to seize the opportunities provided by Moroccan economy mainly in the sectors of agri-business, tourism, energy, mining and new information technologies.

The invitation is heeded. Spanish businessmen ardently wish to enlarge the scope of cooperation with their Moroccan peers and to actively participate in the privatization process.

Chairman of the Spanish employers' association (CEOE), Jose Maria Cuevas said Spanish businessmen are eager to share their know-how with their Moroccan peers and to contribute to the efforts being made under the leadership of King Mohammed VI to raise the Moroccans' living standards.

It is difficult to conceive a 21st century Morocco which has no close ties with the European Union and especially with Spain, which now ranks second among foreign investors in Morocco, the CEOE chairman said, adding the Royal visit will mark the starting point of a new phase in relations between the two neighbor countries.

The same optimism is voiced by Spanish ambassador to Rabat, Jorge Dezcallar, who told MAP that relations between Morocco and Spain are called to be further enhanced in a wide range of sectors, including tourism and high education.

Trade exchanges doubled over the past five years, going up from 150 billion pesetas in 1995 to 300 billion in 1999 (100 pesetas = nearly 6DH), the diplomat said adding that imports increased by 30 % and exports by 50 %.

Morocco is a priority partner for Spain, he said.

The Moroccan community settled in Spain, which is 150,000 strong, is also pinning great hope on the Royal visit that will consolidate the respect of Spain-established Moroccan immigrants' rights.

Chairman of the association of Moroccan immigrant workers in Spain (ATIME), Abdelhamid Bejouki, voiced appreciation for the special interest the sovereign grants to the immigration dossier and to the problems facing Moroccan expatriates.

The Spanish ambassador to Rabat had said in his interview with MAP that it was high time to adopt a new approach regarding the immigration issue through the setting up of a standing joint work group that would control immigration. Spain, whose population is aging, will have growing needs in foreign labor force, but the immigration must be organized in the respect of law, he said.

The immigration issue is described by both governments as "complex" but both governments are called to make further efforts to overcome all pending problems and set up the appropriate mechanisms to avert any misunderstanding, backed in the move by the civil societies which have covered big strides towards a better understanding.

Previous Stories:
  King Mohammed on official visit to Spain Sept.18-20   (9/11/2000)
  Dialog on fishery relations between Morocco and European Union resumes by end of september   (9/1/2000)
  Morocco, Spain determined to overcome outstanding problems, foreign ministers   (9/1/2000)

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