Speaking at the opening of the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum, Mr. Bourita underlined that the projects underway in Morocco, as well as the strategic initiatives launched by HM the King in favor of the States African brothers from the Atlantic and the Sahel are in perfect complementarity with the BRI, as an integrated and multidimensional strategic project.
He further noted that the Kingdom’s constant commitment within the framework of the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum emanates from the ancestral friendship with the People’s Republic of China, under the leadership of the two heads of state, His Majesty King Mohammed VI and His Excellency President Xi Jinping.
The minister also indicated that the strategic partnership between Morocco and China, signed by the Sovereign and Mr. Xi Jinping, on the occasion of the historic Royal Visit to Beijing in May 2016, resulted in tangible results with the fivefold increase in the volume of Chinese investment in Morocco between 2016 and 2023, while that of trade doubled during the same period, thus making China the Kingdom’s first Asian partner.
Expressing pride in the sustained development of these relations, Mr. Bourita reaffirmed Morocco’s ambition to broaden their perspectives to encompass promising and value-added areas and sectors, like the smart industrial city project. “Cité Mohammed VI Tanger Tech”, a pioneering project which is on the right track.
The spirit of trust, which resulted in the exemplary cooperation between Morocco and China in the context of Covid, materialized in the construction of an anti-Covid vaccine manufacturing plant in the Kingdom in the framework of a unique partnership with the Sinopharm group, owned by the Chinese state, continued Mr. Bourita.
The minister also mentioned the achievements since the establishment of the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum in 2004, calling for them to be valued and enriched in order to make this space a site of renewed partnership, based on commitment. common in favor of active solidarity and compromise with a view to preserving the interests of the Member States of the said forum, on the basis of mutual respect for their national constants, their sovereignty and their territorial integrity.
Based on these constants, Morocco reaffirms its attachment to the one-China policy, as a clear position of principle, insisted Mr. Bourita.
And continued that the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum reflects the joint determination of Arab countries and China to build a lasting and active partnership as well as the constant desire of the two parties to establish the foundations of a new, more balanced world order, multipolar and based on an active and responsible multi-party structure, while making partnership and cooperation the basis for addressing the challenges of peace, security and development.
Mr. Bourita also expressed the wish to see this cooperation continue its successful path with ambition, while looking to the future.