Morocco-UK joint statement charts way for deeper cooperation

The Kingdom of Morocco and the United Kingdom have decided to ” to usher in a new era of comprehensive and genuine strategic partnership.”

This commitment was expressed in the Joint Communiqué signed Sunday in Rabat, following talks between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, David Lammy.

This Joint Communiqué, entitled “The Kingdom of Morocco and the United Kingdom enter an enhanced strategic partnership”, states that the two countries, building upon their exceptional shared history and their many bilateral achievements, “reaffirmed their mutual commitment to deepening collaboration across all dimensions.”

According to the Communiqué, this “pioneering partnership fit for the future” will cover several sectors that will be the subject of enhanced cooperation, notably security, defense, trade, investment, water, climate, energy transition, health, education, scientific research and innovation, human rights, as well as cultural and sports exchanges.

Morocco and the UK also pledges to “act as partners to jointly address regional and global challenges, and to uphold the principles of peace, security, tolerance, and human rights.”

The Communiqué emphasizes that “the privileged ties between both Kingdoms rest on a solid foundation of shared values and converging interests,” recalling that the Kingdom of Morocco and the UK “are bound by one of the world’s oldest diplomatic relationships, dating back over 800 years.”

“From the Treaty of Peace and Commerce, signed over 300 years ago, to the UK-Morocco Association Agreement, which passed into effect in 2021, trade and economic cooperation continue to grow from strength to strength,” according to the Joint Communiqué.