Parliamentary Conference on South-South Cooperation applauds Moroccan King’s Atlantic Initiative – Final Declaration

Participants at the Parliamentary Conference on South-South Cooperation held in Rabat Feb.15-16, commended the international initiative of King Mohammed VI aimed at promoting access of Sahel countries to the Atlantic Ocean.

“We commend and welcome the international initiative of His Majesty King Mohammed VI aimed at promoting access of Sahel countries to the Atlantic Ocean, and emphasize the urgent need to address substantial infrastructure and investment in the Atlantic region of Africa,” said the Speakers and members of the Association of Senates, Shoora, and Equivalent Councils in Africa and Arab world (ASSECAA), and representatives of Regional and Continental Parliamentary Unions in Africa, the Arab World and Latin American in the Final Declaration adopted by the conference.

They lauded the pioneering role played by Morocco, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, in launching and supporting all development and solidarity initiatives aimed at sustaining South-South cooperation.

This initiative, which aims to establish a robust institutional framework bringing together the 23 countries of the continent bordering the Atlantic Ocean, will position Morocco’s Atlantic coast as a pivotal hub for bolstering logistical connectivity among the countries of the South by both maritime and air routes, they stressed.

Enhancing logistical connectivity will facilitate the exchange of goods, stimulate investment flows in the countries of the South and significantly shorten the distance between wealth-generating production chains and the sources of raw materials, particularly in the Afro-Arab-Latin American geo-economic areas, where global resources and raw materials are concentrated, added the final declaration.

The parliamentarians also called for “such initiatives to serve as catalysts for strengthening South-South coordination, cooperation and solidarity” between the countries of Africa, the Arab world, Latin America and the Caribbean at bilateral, regional and inter-regional levels, particularly in areas linked to food, energy and health sovereignty and security, economic exchanges, sustainable development, coordination and consultation through permanent institutional channels.

African parliamentarians commended Morocco’s leading role in promoting and strengthening South-South cooperation and highlighted the Sovereign’s commitment and unconditional support for the integration and development of both the continent and the countries of the South.

They stressed the importance of South-South cooperation in meeting the challenges facing these countries, including poverty, food insecurity, climate change and armed conflict.

Attending Arab MPs on their part underscored Morocco’s continuous endeavors to strengthen the climate of understanding and dialogue between brotherly and friendly countries in order to realize the aspirations of peoples for further security, stability and prosperity. The Kingdom also endeavors to establish the best strategic partnerships to help accelerate economic development, they said.

The Parliamentary Conference on South-South Cooperation was held under the theme: “the role of national parliaments and regional and continental parliamentary unions in Africa, the Arab world, and Latin America in promoting strategic partnerships and achieving integration and joint development.”

The Conference brought together more than 260 participants from 40 countries, including 30 speakers of national parliaments and regional and continental parliamentary unions from Africa, the Arab world, Latin America, and the Caribbean.