Sudan’s Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Ismat Qurashi Abdullah Mohammed, described Morocco’s experience in water governance as “truly outstanding” and expressed his country’s desire to benefit from the Kingdom’s expertise in this field.
Speaking to the press following talks with Morocco’s Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, this Monday in Rabat, Abdullah Mohammed said that “Morocco offers the region and the world a distinguished experience from which we hope to benefit in the years ahead.”
In this regard, the Sudanese official stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation in training and capacity-building through the exchange of expertise and the training of Sudanese professionals in Morocco and their Moroccan counterparts in Sudan, particularly in the fields of dam construction, valley development and hydraulic interconnection.
For his part, Baraka noted that the meeting provided “an opportunity to work on the development of a roadmap aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in the water sector, in line with the High Royal Guidelines advocating the consolidation of South-South cooperation, particularly with brotherly African countries, and naturally with brotherly Sudan.”
He stressed that the roadmap will be implemented through a framework cooperation agreement that will facilitate the sharing of Morocco’s expertise in areas such as dam construction, water governance and seawater desalination, as well as issues related to groundwater preservation and the interconnection of hydraulic basins.
The minister added that the agreement would also make it possible to benefit from Sudan’s experience in flood protection and early warning systems.
Focused on ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the water sector, the meeting also provided Baraka with an opportunity to present the main features of Morocco’s national water policy, as well as efforts undertaken in the digitalization of the sector, groundwater preservation and the integrated management of water resources at the level of hydraulic basins through the country’s Basin Agencies.
The Sudanese delegation, for its part, reviewed its experience in flood management and early warning systems.
The two sides also discussed a number of issues of common interest, including water resource management and conservation, the integration of modern technologies in irrigation, flood management and early warning systems, as well as the exchange of experiences and expertise.
