The 12th session of the Morocco-Spain high-level meeting convenes in Rabat this February 1-2.
President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, arrived Wednesday in Rabat to co-chair this session, which is held eight years after the last session of this institutional mechanism in 2015
Pedro Sanchez is leading a large delegation including the ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior.
The 12th session of the high-level meeting is part of the strategic partnership and the new dynamic that relations between the two kingdoms are experiencing following the visit of Pedro Sanchez to Morocco in April 2022, at the invitation of King Mohammed VI.
The April visit highlighted by the signing by the two countries of a new roadmap and this 12th session of the high-level meeting in Rabat will be an opportunity to assess the concrete results achieved since then.
Earlier on Wednesday, King Mohammed VI welcomed, in phone talks with Pedro Sanchez, the evolution and new phase marking Morocco-Spain partnership, since April 2022.
The Sovereign welcomed the evolution, in consultation, trust and mutual respect, of the new phase of the bilateral partnership since the meeting of April 7, 2022.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in a statement to the media in Madrid, hours before flying to Rabat, that the 12th high level meeting between Morocco and Spain is a new reaffirmation of the “excellent dynamics” set in motion between the two countries since April 2022.
”The holding of this High Level Meeting, which has not been held for eight years, demonstrates the importance and the excellent dynamics of our relations”, said Albares, expressing confidence that the meeting will be a success.
He said the meeting will evolve around three essential axes: a strengthened political dialogue, a new economic partnership that will further boost the dynamism of economic relations, and a structure of agreements in the cultural and educational fields, which will be mutually beneficial so that the Spanish and Moroccan peoples know each other even better on more solid basis.
The Spanish Foreign Minister also underlined Morocco’s strategic importance for the European Union, praising the Kingdom’s key role for the stability of the Euro-Mediterranean area.
“Morocco is a major partner for the European Union. The Kingdom is a fundamental country for the stability of the Euro-Mediterranean area that we share between Europe and Africa and Europe and the Maghreb,” Albares stressed.
Albares explained how political dialogue has been strengthened and bilateral relations and cooperation have improved since the adoption of the roadmap, saying as an instance that the joint management of irregular migration flow has allowed a significant reduction of 31% of arrivals on the Spanish coast, at a time all migration routes from Africa to Europe are growing exponentially.
In terms of trade, “we have exceeded the mark of 10 billion euros of Spanish exports and 20 billion euros in global trade,” he said, ensuring that these data show the confidence and strategic relationship being built by the two countries.
“We are in constant dialogue at all levels, and the meetings between the various ministers (…) and working groups are leading to concrete results of this new phase’,” said the Spanish Foreign Minister.