Throne Day: Morocco comes out victorious in all decisive challenges
As Morocco is celebrating this Friday Throne Day, Moroccans of all walks of life look back with pride at the outstanding social, economic and political achievements accomplished thanks to the far-sighted leadership of King Mohammed VI since his enthronement on July 30, 1999.
The Kingdom’s future is now blazing bright. Its extraordinary rise is attracting the attention of both allies and arch-rival foes. Thanks to the wise royal stewardship and “innovative thinking” out of the box, the country is moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago.
Nothing will ever stop it from thriving and advancing towards building a resilient, diversified, inclusive and green economy, taking into account the country’s capabilities and the global changes taking place in order to better harness the opportunities and reduce risks.
To achieve this goal, a new development model is currently discussed by the Moroccan experts to unleash the Kingdom’s full potential, while placing people at the core of priorities, both as actors and beneficiaries of the development process with a view to speed up the progress and prosperity for all.
Just in few years after implementing royal industrial vision, Morocco has become a major regional and global player in the car industry, off-shoring services, electronics and agribusiness.
In 2020, the Moroccan automotive market was valued at $8 billion and is expected to reach a value of $22 billion by 2026. The exports of automotive industry have outperformed those of agriculture, phosphate, textile, and leather products.
Both the automotive and aeronautics sectors continue to attract foreign investors due to the incentives offered by the government, skilled work-force, modern infrastructures, free-industrial zones & clusters, the country’s political stability, and proximity to the European market.
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic is undoubtedly the biggest global crisis since World War II. It has caused deaths, unemployment and massive economic upheaval. But, the pandemic also has some upshots.
The King’s swift response to prevent the spread of covid-19 has been praised worldwide. Urgent measures were also taken to support workers who lost their jobs and SMEs. The moves helped to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.
Morocco was also among the few first countries in the world to receive enough quantities of AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines to rollout early its vaccination campaign against Covid-19, while neighboring countries are still lagging behind.
Hard times always reveal who are the true friends and who are not. King Mohammed VI has shown to African leaders and countries that Morocco’s African solidarity is not an empty word. The Monarch has sent planes loaded with medicines, medical equipment and protective gear to over thirty African countries to enable them cope with the covid-19 pandemic.
Most recently, Morocco sent an emergency medical assistance to Tunisia and set up a field hospital in Manouba. The facility has a total capacity of 100 beds, equipped with the most modern equipment.
Morocco is also busy working to produce locally Sinopharm vaccine and export it to African countries, confirming its leadership in the global fight against Covid-19.
African countries continue to support Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its Sahara with the opening of consulates in the Saharan cities of Laayoune and Dakhla. Nearly thirty countries have so far installed diplomatic representations in the Moroccan Sahara.
Malawi has just opened Thursday a Consulate General in Laayoune, joining the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros Islands, Gabon, Sao Tome & Principe, Central African Republic, Burundi, Eswatini and Zambia.
Also, the United States’ recognition of Morocco’s full sovereignty over its entire Sahara is a major diplomatic victory for the Kingdom. The confirmation of the American position by the Biden Administration has knocked out and crushed all hopes of the Kingdom’s enemies, especially the Algerian military junta which provides weapons, funds and shelter to the polisario militias.
The American stand has exposed the hostile position of Germany and Spain, putting them on an inevitable collision course with Rabat. Diplomatic relations between Morocco and these two European countries strained over the Sahara, leading to the recall of Moroccan ambassadors to Berlin and Madrid for conniving behind the scene with the Algerian regime to undermine Morocco’s territorial integrity.
In their colonial mindset and attitude, Germany and Spain have underestimated Rabat’s abilities to stand up for its legitimate rights and use its leverage capacities. They thought Morocco was an easy target but discovered their vulnerabilities too.
They tried with their lobbyists every trick in the book, including the Pegasus media campaign, to destabilize the North African Kingdom but they failed because Moroccans stand firmly united against all plots hatched by enemies.
The days of taking advantage of the country, underestimating it or looking down upon it are gone. Gone, too, are the diplomatic double-game, hypocrisy, the double-stand policy, broken promises and phony partnership!
