Rabat – Russia and Morocco have been described as having “very good and brilliant” ties by Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. This statement came during the second African-Russian Economic Forum and Summit, held in the cultural city of St. Petersburg on July 27 and 28.
Zakharova emphasized the remarkable cooperation between the two nations, spanning various sectors such as economy, finance, tourism, business, and more. She explained that the thriving partnership between Moscow and Rabat has been underpinned by the Russia-Morocco Strategic Partnership Agreement, which has been in effect since 2002 and was further bolstered in 2016 through the signing of the “Declaration on the Deep Strategic Partnership.”
During the Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, Zakhrova also lauded what she described as the historically friendly relations between Moscow and Rabat. She explained that relations between the two countries have considerably progressed since the inception of the Russia-Morocco Strategic Partnership Declaration in 2002.
The evolving strategic relations have visibly borne fruit, as the North African nation stands among the top three partners of Russia in Africa. Specifically, Morocco ranks second in terms of exports to Russia and third in terms of imports from the country.
Trade figures have in particular seen a significant upswing, with an increase of over 25 percent since 2021, and this growth has continued in the first months of the current year. Fisheries have emerged as a key sector of cooperation between Russia and Morocco.
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The two countries have continued to deepen their engagement in various domains.
According to officials on both sides, the evolving Russia-Morocco relations have been instrumental in opening up Africa for Russia and reciprocally opening up Russia for Africa. In this context, the ongoing Russia-Africa summit is said to have provided an excellent platform for further strengthening these already robust ties.
