In an editorial to be published in the Wednesday issue of the Arabic daily "Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki", Jmahri said that the two kingdoms overlook the Atlantic, which distinguishes them from other countries around the Mediterranean and North Africa, and sets them as "guardians" of the gateway to the Mediterranean at a time of great geostrategic change.

He added that this Moroccan-Spanish High Level Meeting is extremely important, as it is the first summit to be held in seven years, since the right-wing government of Mariano Rajoy, and it is also the first to be held after the crisis that shook relations between the two countries in 2021.

Jmahri said, moreover, that Pedro Sanchez has placed the Euro-Moroccan equation at the heart of bilateral relations, believing that the European dimension in Moroccan-Spanish relations draws its strength from the current context "in which an ideological elite and hypocritical policies have put the European Parliament in an unusual situation that has led to a resolution strange to the general climate that pervades the EU-Moroccan relations."

He noted that the Spanish Socialists, who hold the presidency of the European Union are aware of the importance of Morocco for the Old Continent and the interest that the Kingdom represents for the 27 members of the Union, collectively or individually.

Jmahri noted that the economic dimension is of great weight in relations between Europe and Morocco, given that the EU is the Kingdom's first trading partner and investor.

He noted, in the same context, that the Spanish realize that there is an urgent need, expressed clearly by the Spanish diplomat Gustavo de Aristegui, for further Euro-Moroccan integration of the economies of both countries. Morocco, without being a member of the Union, remains a partner that enjoys a distinguished position, he stressed.

Jmahri concluded that it is very appropriate for Morocco to have a friend in whom it trusts and who clearly defends this friendship.

"These relations reveal the deficit of Algerian policies and their failures and illustrate, on the other hand, the strategic foresight of the Moroccan state under the wise leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, a historic leader at the head of an age-old state that is the culmination of a civilization rich in history and promising for the future," he wrote in a column entitled "Moroccan state is active, the Algerian regime vindictive," published Tuesday on the online news website "Machahid 24".

He noted that "if the holding of the High Joint Moroccan-Spanish Commission already worries the leaders of Algiers, its results will enrage it even more."

He emphasizes, in this regard, that this meeting represents "the pragmatic framework of cooperation, solidarity and dialogue between two kingdoms that work realistically to deepen and activate their bilateral relations in all areas," he adds, noting that this is a real cooperation and a real dialogue under the sign of clarity and based on the principle of mutual respect.

While indicating that the economic forum will bring together businessmen and 12 Spanish ministers who will examine with their Moroccan counterparts the opportunities for reciprocal exchange of concrete benefits, the columnist notes that both parties seek to share profits and better manage the interests of both countries.

That being said, Talaa Saoud Al Atlassi considers that "Algeria is not a state concerned with its interests in a pragmatic logic and is hardly as adept at the principles of cooperation, dialogue and understanding in times of crisis as in normal situations.

Organized on the sidelines of the International Halieutis Fair, this meeting brought together more than 270 participants, representing 32 countries including 24 delegations led by ministers from Africa, Europe and the Middle East and international organizations.

It is a platform for South-South cooperation for fisheries and aquaculture as an essential component of the blue economy.

Since its inception at COP22, this initiative, which aims to strengthen the capacity of participating countries for sustainable management of their fisheries and aquaculture resources, has been encouraged and supported by many countries and organizations to promote cooperation, sharing and exchange of experiences between countries.

In his opening remarks, Sadiki stressed the important role of fisheries and aquaculture products in food security, noting that the BBI is an appropriate cooperation instrument to implement actions to achieve food security, especially in the context of the fight against climate change and the ocean emergency.

He added that the BBI is an important platform for collaboration and support to national, regional and continental blue and marine strategies. It also helps coastal States to transform their fisheries activities towards sustainable exploitation modes.

This year's Conference provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress made since the first Conference in 2019, particularly in terms of cooperation agreements and projects implemented in member countries.

Participants also discussed challenges and directions to strengthen BBI in the coming years. They emphasized the need for effective governance and harmonization of actions.

On the sidelines of this event, cooperation agreements were signed by Morocco with the Republic of Liberia, the Republic of Benin and the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire to support these countries in the scientific and technical field through oceanographic exploration campaigns by the Moroccan scientific boat. It is expected to continue to expand this cooperation to other member countries of the initiative.

Replying to an oral question at the House of Councillors on "The outcome of the 2014-2020 Industrial Acceleration Plan", Mezzour recalled that the volume of industrial exports had not exceeded 160 billion dirhams in 2013, before the Plan was launched, highlighting a progression of about 200 billion dirhams in 9 years.

This Plan has achieved a "very positive" outcome by exceeding its goal of creating 500,000 jobs, said the Minister, adding that this scheme has, in addition, to create integrated industrial ecosystems, support competitiveness, strengthen the confidence of Moroccan and foreign investors in the Moroccan industry and enhance the Kingdom's attractiveness as a destination for industrial investment.

In response to another question on "Strengthening trade with African countries," Mezzour said that the volume of trade with African states would reach more than 65 billion dirhams in 2022, noting that these exchanges have more than quadrupled during the period 2001-2021, from 10 billion dirhams to 46 billion dirhams in 2021.

Nevertheless, the ambitions are not yet achieved at this level, he said, stressing the existence of a set of projects to consolidate trade and partnership with African countries, including the African Continental Free Trade Area, and the Dakhla Port, called to become, after its completion in 2027, a high-level gateway to Africa to improve access to African markets and accessibility of the African product to world markets.

In a presentation of the bill, Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi said that this proposal, emanating from the Istiqlal group of unity and egalitarianism of the House of Representatives, is part of "the implementation of the constitutional text" which enshrines the official character of the Amazigh language, noting that it is "inconceivable" today to require knowledge of the Arabic language only to obtain Moroccan nationality.

Under this amendment, "adequate knowledge of Arabic and Amazigh, or one of them" will be one of the conditions for naturalization required by the Dahir, he said.

On this occasion, Fettah thanked the IFC for the efforts and support provided by this institution to develop the Moroccan private sector and strengthen its role as a driver of investment and job creation.

The Minister also highlighted the efforts made by the government, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in the main areas of cooperation with the IFC, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), advanced regionalization and the operationalization of the Mohammed VI Investment Fund.

In this regard, she emphasized the Kingdom’s significant potential in the field of renewable energy and the considerable opportunities that the sector offers for the development of PPP projects, capitalizing, in particular, on the IFC expertise and support.

Fettah also stressed the crucial role that the Mohammed VI Investment Fund, through its various thematic funds, in accelerating and consolidating the investment efforts undertaken by Morocco.

For their part, the Director of Infrastructure for Africa and the Director for North Africa and the Horn of Africa at the IFC commended the quality of cooperation relations between their institution and Morocco, framed by a Memorandum of Understanding, signed in June 2021.

In this context, Cheick-Oumar reiterated the IFC readiness to support the reforms deployed by Morocco in the priority areas agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding.

For his part, Sarvesh welcomed the reform momentum undertaken by Morocco, highlighting the key positioning of the Kingdom on the African level in terms of green energy potential development.

In addition, the two parties expressed their common desire to strengthen collaboration between the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the IFC, to ensure the success of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF, scheduled for October 2023 in Marrakech.

The Green Mobility Facility for Africa provides technical assistance and investment capital to scale up and accelerate private sector investments in sustainable transport solutions in seven countries, namely Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone and South Africa, the AfDB said in a statement.

The grant will help create an enabling environment for electric vehicles, design electric vehicle business models and guidelines for the public and private sectors.

It will also, according to the same source, develop a bankable pipeline of e-mobility projects, ensure regional coordination and knowledge sharing, to help catalyze private sector financing in the next investment phase of the African Green Mobility Facility.

Answering a central question during the oral question session in the House of Councillors on "the implementation of advanced regionalization", Laftit said that these contracts concern the regions of Fez-Meknes, Dakhla-Oued Eddahab, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Guelmim-Oued Noun, Souss-Massa and Tangier-Tetouan Al-Hoceima, adding that the contract program to bind the state to the region of the Oriental, worth 5.861 billion dirhams to implement 49 projects, is in the final stages of signing.

The contract between the State and the regions is the ideal mechanism to realize economic and social development programs and an essential gateway to implement advanced regionalization, he stressed, adding that the Ministry of Interior has taken the initiative to develop a model contract between the State and the regions according to a participatory approach with the goal of determining the financial commitments of the parties, the value of the necessary funds and the timetable for the realization of the programs subject of the contracts, with the establishment of mechanisms for monitoring and assessment of contractual commitments.

In accordance with the advanced regionalization project and the provisions of the New Development Model, added Laftit, the draft law No. 83.21 on the creation of regional multi-service companies was developed, noting that in parallel, the Ministry has taken all the backing measures in the technical, financial, social, economic and organizational for the implementation of this model.

During the four-day visit, the delegation, which was led by Jihan Bouayad, Head of Financial Preparation, Accounting and Audit at the Agency, accompanied by Ismail Ramli, Coordinator of Programs and Projects in Al-Quds, held a series of meetings with Palestinian experts in the field of digitization and information systems, to review the findings of the forum held in Rabat on the sidelines of the activities of the Agency’s silver jubilee, on January 21, 2023, in the presence of representatives of several social and economic institutions in Al-Quds.

The Agency’s experts presented to their counterparts the steps that lead to developing the guide of rules and specifications of the Agency’s new information system, the plan of digital communication and donations via Internet, as well as the e-marketing platform "Dlala" for social and solidarity trade aiming to contribute to enhancing and promoting the products of associations and traders of Al-Quds.

The delegation also went to Al-Quds to discover closely the reality of the Holy City’s economic situation and the working conditions on the ground in view of the daily constraints, in order to be able to define a real, global and integrated vision of the expected results of the digital systems and to adapt them to meet the needs of the administrative executives, on the one hand, and of the Maqdessis traders and partners, on the other hand.

The Agency's experts visited the old medina of Al-Quds and met with several merchants, artisans and representatives of associations. They also met experts in electronic marketing systems, shipping, import and export, packaging and logistics.

They also held a working session at the headquarters of the Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry and another with the branch of the Bank of Palestine in Al-Quds.

"The support of the French Liberals close to the French presidency to this resolution as well as their adherence to its content and their advocacy in its favor have raised the astonishment of the Moroccan side which considered until then the French as allies," said Haddad who was the guest of the MAP Forum, organized under the theme "Resolution of the European Parliament: Circumvention of all institutional mechanisms of dialogue and coordination and a politicization of matters that fall within the judicial domain".

Haddad, an international expert in strategic management, democracy, governance, immigration and development, explained this sudden turnaround by the fact that "part of the French deep state is annoyed by Morocco's diplomatic and security victories and has exploited this crisis, as before the 'fake news' about the use of Pegasus software, to encourage French liberals to support this resolution.”

He believes that it is likely that these forces have implicated Morocco in the so-called "Qatargate" affair despite the lack of evidence, ensuring that the Moroccan state will adopt an appropriate attitude to this reversal whatever its nature, whether situational or structural.

“I hope that the French state is aware of the gravity of the situation. If there are parts of the state, which target Morocco through their maneuvers, it shows an irresponsibility that can lead to unfortunate consequences,'' he added, calling on France to focus on transparency and clarity in its relations with Morocco, irreproachable so far in his regard.

Referring to changes in the attitudes of parliamentary groups in the European Parliament, this academic, who teaches in national and international universities, noted that the centrist group in the EP was among the allies of Morocco and stood against resolutions hostile to the Kingdom, but the electoral outbidding between parliamentary groups and other accusations of corruption and attacks orchestrated by the group at the behest of Algeria have caused some to be forced to express reservations while others have given in to panic.

On the other hand, the Spanish MEPs have shown courage and foresight, refusing to sacrifice the strong strategic partnership between Morocco and Spain on the altar of ill-considered positions without a future, he said, while noting dysfunctions within the Morocco-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee because of obstacles made by members acting among the European party. This approach, he said, has undermined the cooperation mechanisms established since 2008.

According to him, this ill-considered resolution "has hijacked all joint actions by the Morocco-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee with our European peers," citing by name the culprits behind the blockages, namely Antonio Panzeri and Andrea Cozzolino (former and current chairs of the committee on the European side) and their deputy Francesco Giorgi, and Marie Arena, chair of the sub-committee on rights, cited among the accused of corruption, some in detention and others sought by the Belgian justice.

Noting that the adoption of this resolution without consultation with the Moroccan-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee is a "headlong rush", Haddad said that some European counterparts in the Committee "did not want to work with the Moroccan parliamentarians. Worse, they have erected obstacles to bring to a standstill this institution of consultation, pushing the Moroccan MPs in this Committee to act individually with groups and MEPs, which has allowed the Moroccan parliamentarians to be strongly present in the EP to defend the supreme interests of the Kingdom.

He considered, in this regard, that it would have been better to use this framework for consultation if the responsibilities were entrusted to people who are up to the task, calling on the European Parliament to clarify its vision about the European parties working within the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The serious work carried out by the Committee and its European allies to shed light on human rights issues in Morocco and expose the gross violations of these rights in Algeria and Tindouf has caused frustration among the enemies of Morocco's territorial integrity, who have tried to instrumentalize the crisis of the EP, some members of which are accused of corruption.

Moreover, Haddad said that the Joint Parliamentary Committee has achieved victories during a year and a half of action, since it has managed to abort all attempts to adopt or amend reports against Morocco, as well as it has contributed, through its communication and advocacy work, to raise awareness among MEPs about the seriousness of the human rights situation in Tindouf and Algeria, which has provoked the anger of the pro-Algerian lobby within the EP.

He also reported the existence of centers and parliamentarians paid by Algeria in this European institution just to attack Morocco, citing in particular the members of the illegal group of support for polisario, which have no other purpose than to seek to damage Morocco's image through the instrumentalization of the human rights issues, exploitation of natural resources and freedom of the press, among others.

In this context, Haddad recalled a series of anti-Moroccan attacks in the EP in 2022, noting that parties hostile to the Kingdom have submitted no less than 112 questions targeting Morocco and tried 18 times to make amendments against its interests, knowing that 424 attempts hostile to the Kingdom have been noted since 2016.

After indicating that three draft resolutions have been devoted only to the case Omar Radi in 2022, he stressed that the work of the Committee with MEPs has prevented the adoption of these texts, welcoming the efforts made by Moroccan parliamentarians in this regard.