Morocco, Spain voice will to foster cooperation

Morocco and Spain on Tuesday voiced "firm determination" to foster cooperation ties.

The accords concluded between the two countries are evidence to the will to give a new impetus to bilateral cooperation, Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, and Spanish peer, Josep Pique, said at a joint press conference.

Morocco and Spain passed Tuesday two economic agreements on investment and debt-swapping on the fringes of the official visit of King Mohammed VI to Spain (Sep.18 through 20). The Moroccan and Spanish power companies also signed a convention to enhance the capacity of power connection between the two countries.

Benaissa and Pique lauded the positive results of the king's visit to Spain, noting that the Royal trip helped create a new atmosphere of trust between the two countries.

The Spanish foreign minister voiced his country's readiness to continue backing, within the European Union, Morocco's modernization effort.

The two officials dwelt on the issue of immigration, voicing a shared will to intensify cooperation with a view to finding appropriate solutions to this "universal phenomenon."

It is impossible to put an end to illegal immigration, but Moroccan and Spanish working groups will earnestly debate the issue, Benaissa said.

Morocco cannot stop on its own the migration flows that cross its territories towards Spanish coasts, he said, adding that most of these illegal immigrants come from sub-Saharan Africa.