Akhannouch Represents Morocco at China-Arab Cooperation Summit

Rabat – Morocco’s Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, headed to Saudi Arabia Thursday to represent King Mohammed VI at the China-Arab Cooperation and Development Summit.

The symposium, which opened today in Riyadh, aims to boost economic, scientific, and technical cooperation between China and Arab countries.

During the meeting, high-level officials from China and Arab countries will work to define the road for future cooperation, as well as to reinforce their consensus on major issues – including global governance, development, security, and dialogue.

The participants will also discuss the cooperation mechanism to further expertise exchange between the two sides to address the global challenges and changes.

Akhannouch is attending the summit along with several Arab leaders including Kuwait’s Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Sudan’s Sovereign Council head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The Arab-China summit comes amid several challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine war, instability in the Middle-East, US-China tensions, and particularly inflation.

According to Reuters, the Chinese delegation is expected to sign dozens of agreements and memoranda of understanding with Arab states, deals that cover issues such as energy, security, and investments.

Morocco shares good diplomatic ties and cooperation with both China and Arab states.

The country cooperates with China at different levels, including trade and scientific research.

Last year, Morocco and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost trade cooperation.

The deal also aims to boost the exchange of information between the two countries on national economic and trade trends, laws and regulations, industrial standards, as well as market analysis reports and investment projects.

According to Morocco’s Ministry of Trade, “China is Morocco’s 3rd trade partner” with a total trade volume of MAD 39.5 billion, or $3.74 billion, in 2016.

The number represents an average annual increase of 18.2% since 2001.

The ministry added that the Chinese direct foreign investment in Morocco had reached MAD 362.5 million ($34.38 million) in 2016 and amounted to MAD 582.4 million ($55.24 million) for the first six months of 2017.