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Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita and his Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn, have expressed a shared desire to strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation between their two countries.
Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a press release that Bourita and Sokhonn held a videoconference today, January 25.
The ministers agreed to further their countries’ bilateral cooperation in sectors such as tourism and textile, stressing the importance of sharing expertise, the statement said.
They additionally agreed to strengthen bilateral relations through the organization of and participation in the upcoming third session of political consultation and a joint commission to advance trade cooperation along with diplomatic relations, it added.
Cambodia hosted the first Phnom Penh-Rabat political consultation in 2016. The following year, the second political consultation took place in Rabat.
The meeting concluded with the signing of an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and service passport holders, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding between the Moroccan Academy of Diplomatic Studies and the Cambodian National Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies.
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In line with Morocco’s efforts to expand its diplomatic reach to Southeast Asia, bilateral cooperation between Morocco and Cambodia provides new opportunities for the North African country’s acclaimed South-South diplomacy.
Morocco is the first Arab and African country to obtain observer member status at the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (AIPA), Bourita recalled in the videoconference, adding that the country became an associate member in Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in 2021.
Moreover, Morocco signed a Treaty of Friendship Cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2016, the press release stated, noting that Cambodia currently holds the association’s presidency.
On the Western Sahara question, Sokhonn “reiterated Cambodia’s support for the efforts of the United Nations and the resolutions of the Security Council related to the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara,” the press release stated.
In response, Bourita “reaffirmed Morocco’s support for Cambodia’s application to obtain the Observer Status at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC],” it added.
The meeting between the two diplomats concluded with Bourita re-extending an invitation to Cambodia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to visit Morocco. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the countries postponed the visit initially scheduled for April 2020.
