Several Swiss tourists who were in Morocco after borders closed enjoyed warm hospitality from their Moroccan hosts, the ambassador said.
Rabat – Switzerland’s Ambassador to Morocco Guillaume Scheurer has joined a score of diplomatic officials and institutions in underlining the strengths of the North African country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Moroccan government very quickly took the right decisions, communicated them very well, and implemented them through the various relevant bodies,” Scheurer told reporters in Rabat on Tuesday, according to Morocco’s state media, MAP.
The ambassador’s remarks followed a panel discussion on “Post COVID-19 recovery” organized by the Diplomatic Foundation, a non-profit foundation established by the governments of Malta and Switzerland.
“Several Swiss tourists who were in Morocco during the period of March, April, and May were able to benefit from the traditional Moroccan hospitality,” he added.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the true extent of Moroccans’ hospitality, with everyday citizens opening their doors to tourists and some hoteliers offering free stays for those who found themselves stuck in the country after the borders closed on March 15.
“I would also like to congratulate Morocco for having known how to project itself and show solidarity with the African continent by sending aid to fifteen African countries,” Scheurer said.
King Mohammed VI ordered the Moroccan government on June 14 to deliver medical aid to 15 African countries to support them in their efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The total aid package consisted of nearly eight million masks, 900,000 visors, 600,000 hygiene caps, 60,000 gowns, 30,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel, 75,000 boxes of chloroquine, and 15,000 boxes of Azithromycin.
The beneficiaries included Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, Chad, and Zambia. Angola also received aid.
The solidarity initiative made international headlines, earning the praise of African officials and diplomats as well as international agents.
A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry said after the aid deliveries that “the new coronavirus has shown us that we cannot face such global crises without being united,” welcoming Morocco’s commitment to pan-African cooperation in the face of the pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also issued a statement expressing appreciation for the generous initiative, calling the aid campaign a “genuine and tangible manifestation of regional solidarity, which is part of the global solidarity that WHO has consistently called for.”
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