Morocco takes care to preserve the rights of the Moroccan community residing abroad when concluding international conventions, said Tuesday in Rabat, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, Nasser Bourita.
In a statement to the press, the minister underlined that Morocco, while being committed to the international effort aimed at combating tax evasion, the financing of terrorism and money laundering, cannot take any action likely to infringe the rights of the Moroccan community abroad, which enjoys the special attention of King Mohammed VI.
This declaration was made at the end of a legislative session in the House of Representatives, during which it was unanimously decided to postpone the vote on two bills approving, respectively, the multilateral agreement between competent authorities on the exchange of country-by-country declarations and the multilateral agreement between competent authorities concerning the automatic exchange of information relating to financial accounts, initialed by the Kingdom of Morocco on June 25, 2019.
The government has closely followed the debate aroused by certain provisions of these conventions, particularly among members of the Moroccan community abroad, “who have formulated legitimate questions and a certain number of fears, as well as a set of relevant remarks”, indicated Bourita.
Interaction with Parliament through the House of Representatives, whether within the framework of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs and Moroccans residing abroad or during the legislative session, has shown that the deputies make the same observations, he added, noting that the government “has provided a clear response on this subject, this category of Moroccans being the subject of particular concern from HM the King”.
The provisions of these agreements giving rise to debate will be the subject, if necessary, of an explanation to remove confusion and avoid any misinterpretation in the future, assured the minister, adding that the government is ready to “provide more guarantees by ensuring, if necessary, to introduce modifications to certain clauses”.
In this sense, Bourita noted that the government reacted positively to the postponement of the vote on these two bills, with a view to providing more details to these agreements or renegotiating them.
“All issues affecting the Moroccan community residing abroad are important and all fears and remarks must be taken into consideration”, he insisted, affirming that no agreement “can be approved before ensuring that all guarantees are met and that the rights of the Moroccan community abroad will not suffer any infringement”.
In addition, the Minister indicated that the seven international conventions unanimously approved by the House of Representatives during the same legislative session, strengthen Morocco’s relations with its Arab, African and Islamic space, and are part of the application of the High Guidelines of HM King Mohammed VI, in order to consolidate Morocco’s international relations, diversify its partnerships and develop its cooperation with other States. These are two bilateral conventions, four regional conventions (two African, one Arab and one Islamic) and one multilateral convention.