Spanish parliamentary delegation visits Morocco

A Spanish parliamentary delegation paid a visit to Morocco this week and held talks with several members of the Moroccan cabinet and parliamentarians on means to enhance bilateral relations in various areas.

The delegation from the foreign affairs committee at the Spanish senate, led by the committee chairman Jose Lopez Henares, also conferred with businessmen and with executives of the employers' association, "Confederation Generale des Entreprises du Maroc" (CGEM).

The two sides stressed the need to promote partnership relations between the two countries and between economic operators to initiate joint ventures.

Henares said at the various talks he held in Rabat that the visit was meant to get first hand information on the country and to discuss in a concrete way bilateral relations. He also hailed the democratic process in Morocco and ongoing efforts to consecrate human rights culture.

Moroccan-Spanish talks also surveyed the issues of fisheries, illegal emigration and the Sahara, a former Spanish colony retrieved by Morocco in 1975.

The visiting delegation insisted in this regard on the keen interest Spain grants to peace and stability in the region and said that the Spanish government and most representative political forces in Spain hope that the Sahara issue will be settled in line with the U.N settlement plan providing for the holding of a referendum in the territory.

The referendum will determine whether the Sahara sets on its own as claimed by a separatist movement or remains part of Morocco.

Morocco's relations with the European Union were also brought up at the Moroccan-Spanish talks.