This audience testifies to the interest and importance that the Senegal Chamber of Mines Appreciates the Action”>Senegalese Head of State has in the historic and excellent relations existing between Morocco and Senegal in various areas.
The Moroccan delegation, led by the Governor in charge of the Cooperation and Documentation Pole at the General Directorate of Local Authorities (DGCT), Abdelouahhab El Jabri, includes in particular the president of the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Municipal Councils (AMPCC), Mounir Laymouri, Mayor of the city of Tangier, officials representing the DGCT, the INDH, the FEC and the CDG, as well as presidents of different municipalities.
The audience took place in the presence of HM the King’s Ambassador in Dakar, Mr. Hassan Naciri.
Speaking on this occasion, the Senegalese Head of State welcomed the participation during this month of January of two strong Moroccan delegations in two major events in Dakar, specifying that the first cultural delegation of high importance which was led by the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mr. Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, and included more than 70 Moroccan artists, took part in the 12th edition of the Fesnac arts and cultures festival in Fatick, during which the Kingdom was the guest of honor.
As for the second large delegation, it is made up of mayors of Morocco and elected officials who are participating in the Senegalese-Moroccan Decentralization Conference which is currently being held in Dakar, he added.
“This touches us and shows the importance that Morocco, a sister country, attaches to its relationship with Senegal,” underlined President Macky Sall.
Returning to the Conference, he noted that Morocco has a “very proactive policy in terms of decentralization and especially territorial planning”, continuing that “very often we have cited the Moroccan example when it comes to seeing how cities have made their contribution to regional planning.
President Macky Sall instructed, at the same time, the Moroccan delegation to convey the feelings of friendship and gratitude to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him.
The opening ceremony of these Conferences, which continue until Wednesday, was chaired Monday by the Minister of Territorial Communities, Planning and Territorial Development of Senegal, Modou Diagne Fada, in the presence of officials and elected officials Senegalese and technical experts and directors of different Senegalese authorities, as well as members of the strong Moroccan delegation.
The Conference, held under the theme: “Together, local authorities chart the path to decentralized South-South cooperation marked by innovation and progress”, has the general objective of revisiting the history of the centuries-old relations existing between Morocco and Senegal and their two peoples, to share the experiences of decentralization policies in force between the two countries and to decline the opportunities for cooperation and financing of local development which are offered to local authorities for the two countries.
They also set themselves the objective of developing an action plan for the implementation of the agreement between the umbrella associations, and also aim to reaffirm and strengthen the links of solidarity and cooperation between the territorial authorities of Senegal and Morocco through a more dynamic territorial diplomacy.
The work of these meetings, to which representatives of the local authorities of the West African Economic Monetary Union (UEMOA) are invited, was marked by the holding of plenary sessions during which Moroccan and Senegalese experts presented “the state of Decentralization: Achievements and Perspectives”, in their countries.
Participants will also discuss during this meeting the financing mechanisms of local authorities in Senegal and Morocco and the axes of decentralized cooperation between the two countries and territorial diplomacy.