Morocco’s King sends message to Saudi Crown Prince
King Mohammed VI has addressed a written message to Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The royal message was handed over by Head of the Moroccan Government, Aziz Akhannouch, during a meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince, on the sidelines of the Green Middle East Initiative summit held in the capital Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reports.
The Head of Government conveyed the greetings of King Mohammed VI to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and to the Crown Prince, SPA says.
During the meeting, the two countries’ initiatives to preserve the environment and combat climate change were reviewed.
Akhannouch who led the Moroccan delegation to the Saudi Green Initiative Forum and the Middle East Green Initiative Summit met with regional leaders to discuss issues related to reducing the impact of human beings on the environment.
During the Riyadh summit, Morocco showcased its clean growth strategy, meant to ensure sustainable development fueled by green economy in line with the international efforts made to cut greenhouse gas emissions and flatten global warming.
Through this strategy, Morocco has reiterated its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint with new economic plans that seek to diversify Morocco’s economy away from reliance on non-renewable energy.
The measures adopted by Morocco to alleviate this scourge, aim to fulfill the kingdom’s plan to meet 52% of its energy needs by 2030 through renewables, an objective that it is getting closer and closer to achieving. In this respect, the “Green Future” report published by the MIT Technology Review magazine placed Morocco at the forefront in the use of renewable energies in the entire MENA region.
Morocco has also eliminated diesel, petrol and oil subsidies to promote energy efficiency in an attempt to accelerate the transition to a greener economy. The plan has also identified Morocco’s ocean as a natural resource on the same level as the earth’s soil resource, thus promoting sustainable aquaculture.
The meeting between Akhannouch and the Saudi Crown Prince comes at a time when relations between the two kingdoms are at their best. A few days ago, at the UN headquarters, the Saudi ambassador, Abdullah al-Mouallimi, reiterated his country’s support for Morocco on the Sahara issue. In his remarks he stressed that the Saudi kingdom would reject “any prejudice to the higher interests or to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco”.
The same backing was voiced by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Morocco, Abdullah Bin Saad Bin Mohamed Al Ghariri, during meetings he held on Monday in Rabat with a number of Moroccan officials.
The Saudi diplomat welcomed the level of cooperation between the two countries in various areas, highlighting the willingness to move forward in this cooperation so as to promote investment and trade and economic exchanges.
