Portugal and Morocco set up parliamentary friendship group

A Portugal-Morocco parliamentary friendship group has just been set up at the initiative of Portuguese social-democrat MP Paulo Mendo.

The purpose of the group, whose creation was backed by parliamentarians from various political movements, is to promote the exchange of information, conduct and disseminate studies on relations between the two countries, and exchange data on the two countries' political, economic and social systems.

Paul Mendo who chairs the group underlined in a statement to the MAP bureau in Lisbon the need to upgrade Moroccan-Portuguese cooperation in the frame of a new approach, based on genuine political, economic and social partnership and on coordination of positions in all fields of mutual concern.

The two countries' geographical proximity, their shared history and attachment to democracy are all elements facilitating rapprochement between the two peoples, Mendo said, urging the two countries to promote a more dynamic cooperation and to mobilize all available means to take up the development challenges at the turn of the century.