Rabat – The Morocco-US Investment Forum in Dakhla is more than just a business venture; it is a political initiative with diplomatic goals.
So, what exactly is this discussion forum? And how does it benefit Morocco politically?
About the forum
In partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Morocco, the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Council hosts the Morocco-US Investment Forum in Dakhla with the aim of strengthening economic ties between Morocco and the United States.
The Morocco-US Investment Forum took place on March 8 and 9 in Dakhla and brought together over twenty business leaders and high-profile representatives from the agribusiness, renewable energy, finance, and medical technology sectors.
The forum aimed to boost investment and business in Dakhla, while improving bilateral cooperation and attracting new US direct investment in agriculture, tourism, mining, and renewable energy.
Discussion panels during the forum brought together professionals from across the private and public sectors to focus on priorities aligned to Morocco’s overall investment plan. Talks focused on the Southern region’s business climate and development potential, covering topics such as trade and industry, tourism and crafts, the Atlantic port and logistics, agriculture and fisheries, and renewable energy and mining.
The forum’s significance for Moroccan diplomacy
Since the US’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara in December 2020, the Biden administration has repeatedly signaled its support for Morocco’s territorial integrity. In this context, the US delegation’s second visit to the southern provinces in less than a month is clearly part of the Biden White House’s commitment to honor the previous administration’s December 10 proclamation on the Sahara question.
In February 2022, a delegation from the US Embassy in Rabat visited both Laayoune and Dakhla to assess US-sponsored programs in the region and meet with beneficiaries of US-backed economic development projects, including the DakhlaConnect and LaayouneConnect digital platforms.
In addition to these in-person demonstrations of support for the historic decision of the United States administration to unequivocally recognize the sovereignty of Morocco over the region, the US State Department and numerous US government-affiliated institutions have tellingly displayed Morocco’s undivided map on their official websites in recent months.
If President Biden had ever intended to disavow the Trump White House’s proclamation on the Sahara, as many pro-Polisario observers and lobbyists had hoped, his administration would have made it obvious enough during its first days in office.
Instead, the US has only further underlined and increased its support for Morocco in recent weeks. While the US has still not opened its publicized and much-expected consulate in Morocco’s Dakhla, huge American investments and development projects in the region fall within agreements signed in 2020 and testify to improving ties with Morocco.
To the dismay of the pro-Polisario camp, both this week’s Dakhla Forum and all other recent developments in US-Morocco relations suggest a reversal of the December 10 proclamation is highly unlikely.
As journalist and writer Talaâ Saoud Al-Atlassi has said of the political significance of the Dakhla forum, the investment-themed event is “a product of the American recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara.” For Al-Atlassi, “the economic extension of a sovereign American political decision towards Morocco. It is one of the ways to implement this American decision. A realistic and pragmatic path with tangible economic and social impacts.”
A neat illustration of Al-Atlassi’s thesis is that, even before recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty on the Sahara 2020, the US’ position had long been that the Moroccan Autonomy Plan is the best route to a lasting and politically feasible solution to the Sahaara conflict.
With the US continuously signaling its commitment to consolidate its multifaceted and far-reaching relations with Morocco, the Morocco-US Investment Forum is a great chance for both countries to expand investment and commerce and provide new job opportunities for the youth in the city of Dakhla and across Morocco’s southern provinces.
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