Rabat – Naama Mayara, speaker of Morocco’s House of Councilors emphasized the Moroccan approach toward strengthened South-South cooperation as a means to address current global and regional challenges.
Mayara made his remarks during the opening of the 11th Congress of the Association of Senates, Shura and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World on Thursday.
Mayara, who is also the president of the association, recalled that the event is taking place in response to instructions of King Mohammed VI.
He said the event is in line with efforts to tackle the challenges facing the world.
“The challenges facing Africa and the Arab world were exacerbated by the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic,” Mayara said in his opening speech to the conference.
He added that the repercussions caused an increase in the debt ratio by 10 points of the African continent’s GDP.
The speaker of Morocco’s House of Councillors shared his positive outlook regarding the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, saying that it constitutes a “great hope to ensure economic and social recovery.”
The official stressed that the world is now able to enter a recovery phase “thanks to tremendous efforts to ensure collective immunity” through COVID-19 vaccines.
Mayara recalled that Morocco launched the construction of a vast manufacturing plant seeking to manufacture COVID-19 and other vaccines, ensuring self-efficiency in medicines and vaccines.
The parliamentarian emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation between research institutions and specialized medical facilities in the Arab and African region, to exchange expertise and knowledge on the medical , health, and technology fields.
The congress seeks to exchange views and discuss a range of issues and topics of great importance in Afro-Arab countries.
The congress will include the presentation of the General Secretariat’s report that presents the results of the association’s activities during the period since the 10th congress.
The event will tackle two themes: “Afro-Arab cooperation and solidarity as a basis for urban upgrading and development” and “youth and women at the center development policies and sustainable investments.”
