Preparations for the 8th session of the Moroccan-Mauritanian High Joint Commission of senior officials began on Wednesday, March 9 in Rabat, with the participation of a number of ministerial representatives from both countries.
Head of Moroccan government Aziz Akhannouch and Mauritania’s Prime Minister Mohamed Ould Bilal will preside over the session that will take place this Friday, March 11.
On this occasion, Fouad Akhrif, ambassador and director of the Mashreq, Gulf, Arab and Islamic Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that relations between the two countries continue to grow towards “establishing distinguished cooperation mechanisms and providing a stimulating legislative framework to achieve the two countries’ aspirations in improving their economic, social, cultural and scientific relations.”
On a similar note, Mohamed Hanchi El Ketab, Ambassador, General Director of the bilateral cooperation department at the Mauritanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered that this session is an important step for bilateral cooperation in various sectors such as fishing, vocational training, and trade.
Morocco and Mauritania are expected to sign twelve cooperation agreements covering sixteen sectors, including trade development, investment, agriculture, education, youth and training.
Discussions regarding the organization of this 8th session took place on May 24, 2021 in Rabat in the presence of Minister Nasser Bourita and his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
In a press conference following the meeting, Bourita revealed, “during the next phases at the level of the joint commission and the monitoring committee, the focus will be on strengthening this sectoral cooperation and mobilizing economic players within the framework of a bilateral and trilateral vision.”
For his part, Ould Cheikh Ahmed highlighted the excellent political relationship between Morocco and Mauritania, adding that “the economic and sectoral aspects need a greater push to translate the vision of His Majesty the King and His Excellency the Mauritanian President into strong neighborly relations, based on the foundations of human and historical relations and the adoption of the content of a strategic relationship between the two brotherly countries.”
The 7th session of the Morocco-Mauritania high commission was held 9 years ago in Nouakchott. The two governments then signed agreements related to oil, gas, water, sanitation, environment and sustainable development.
