Portugal-Morocco signed 11 cooperation agreements in various sectors

Lisbon – Eleven cooperation agreements were signed after the work of the 12th High Level Meeting Portugal-Morocco, held Monday in Lisbon, under the motto “More than 20 years of broad ambitious partnership. ”

The signing of these agreements, which cover several components, took place during a ceremony chaired by the heads of government of Morocco and Portugal, Messrs. Abdelilah Benkirane and Pedro Passos Coelho.

A cooperation agreement in the field of internal security was signed by the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, Drais Cherki and the Portuguese Minister of Interior, Anabela Rodrigues.

Another draft agreement was initialed by the Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad, and Portuguese Minister of Economy Antonio Pires de Lima, to strengthen bilateral cooperation in tourism investment, promotion and strengthening of tourist flows including through the exchange of experiences in the areas of management, coordination, promotion and training.

There is also another agreement between the Moroccan Academy of Diplomatic Studies and Diplomatic Institute of Portugal, signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Mbarka Bouaida and Secretary of State for Communities Portuguese José Casario.

The fourth agreement covers the areas of youth and sports and was signed by the Minister of Urban Planning and Spatial national territory, Mohand Laenser, and the Secretary of State of the Portuguese Communities, José Casario.

This high-level meeting was also marked by the signing of two memoranda of understanding relating to transportation and shipping lines, initialed by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Logistics, Aziz Rabbah and Portuguese Minister of Economy.

Another Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the Observatory of Portuguese investment in Morocco and Moroccan investment in Portugal was signed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Moulay Hafid El Alamy and Portuguese Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima.

A framework agreement in the field of energy was signed by the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, Abdelkader Amara and his Portuguese counterpart, José Moreira Da Silva.

This RHN 12th also saw the initials of three other agreements. This is a scientific cooperation protocol, a partnership between the Higher Institute of Maritime Studies Convention and Escola Superior Nautica and a cooperation agreement between the National Ports Agency (Morocco) and the Portuguese Administration Dourou ports and Leixoes.

The head of government arrived Sunday in Lisbon at the head of a large ministerial delegation to co-chair the 12th high-level meeting between Portugal and Morocco.

Outside the European Union, Morocco is now the fourth partner of Portugal after Angola, the US and Brazil.

In recent years, bilateral relations have developed positively in favor of Portugal, according to the latest report of the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP). The amount of exports rose in 2013 to 767,400,000 euros (58.7 pc compared to the year before), while the Portuguese imports of Moroccan products amounted during the year, to 175 million euros.