Rabat – The Morocco-EU Partnership is experiencing sustained development and presents a positive assessment, said Thursday March 11, 2022, in Rabat the Moroccan minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Mr Nasser Bourita, stressing the need to continue providing concrete and pioneering content to it.
“The Morocco-EU Partnership is experiencing sustained development and presents a positive outcome. The results are there, we must recall them”, he said during a joint press briefing with the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, following bilateral talks.
Among these results, Mr. Bourita recalled that the Kingdom benefits from the largest budget in the Southern Neighbourhood, with nearly 908 million euros programmed for 2021-2024 and 1.6 billion euros announced for 2021-2027 (an annual rate of 227 million euros).
Morocco, he said, is the first country in terms of flagship projects, stressing, in this regard, that out of the seven projects targeting the Kingdom, five are already underway and some are at an advanced stage.
“We can also welcome the new level reached since June 2019 within the framework of the restructuring of this partnership”, he stressed, noting that Mr. Várhelyi’s visit to Morocco “allows us to further consolidate this dynamic and to continue to give it concrete and pioneering content”.
Regarding triangular cooperation, Mr. Bourita welcomed the signing of the “LINK UP AFRICA” project document, an “important agreement which also shows that our partnership goes beyond our regions and touches Africa.”
“We are therefore very pleased to see that our partnership benefits not only the EU and Morocco, but also extends beyond to the African continent”, he said, noting that this unprecedented project reflects the priority given by the Kingdom and by the EU to the development of cooperation with the African continent.
According to the minister, the future prospects of this partnership are also promising.
For his part, the European official pointed out that the Link Up Africa project could be a “game changer” as the very first triangular cooperation between the EU, Morocco and Africa, facilitating young people’s access to training and employment in Africa, so that they can work in their own country.
Welcoming his talks with Mr. Bourita, the European Commissioner noted that the discussions focused on the implementation of the new Mediterranean Program and the economic and investment plan, which is the foundation of the EU-Morocco partnership.
This agenda, he explained, will bring specific projects with a direct benefit for the population, noting that the European Commission seeks to mobilize nearly 8.4 billion euros of investments for Morocco in the next 7 years in the framework of the economic investment plan.
After their talks, Mr. Bourita and Várhelyi signed the document relating to the “LINK UP AFRICA” project, the first of its kind within the framework of the partnership between the Kingdom and the European Union.
