Spain and Morocco will hold a high-level meeting (HLM) on the first two days of February, in Rabat. This summit between the two countries is the first of its kind in seven years. Indeed, the last HLM took place in June 2015 in Madrid.
Morocco and Spain inaugurated, in 2022, a new stage in the history of centuries-old relations between the two neighboring countries, united by history and geography, as well as by common geopolitical, economic and security interests. To better materialize it, the executives of the two countries meet this Tuesday and Wednesday for a high-level meeting. A first since 2015.
In the past seven years, there have been two RNHs planned, in 2020 and 2021. They had been canceled at the initiative of Morocco. But this year, the high-level meeting will be attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, as well as a dozen ministers from both countries, including several influential members of the Spanish Executive.
The first and third vice-presidents of the Spanish government, Nadia Calvino and Teresa Ribera, will be named respectively, as well as the presence of the ministers of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and of Justice, Pilar Lop. According to a local newspaper, the Spanish delegation will also include the Minister of Public Works and Transport, the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, as well as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
On the sidelines of this event, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), the Confederación Espanola Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE) and the Morocco-Spain Economic Council will discuss with each other. Last Monday, José Manuel Albares declared during a symposium that the NHN “is the right time to strengthen our mutual foundations for a much stronger bilateral relationship“, recalling that”Morocco neighboring country of Spain shared a land border and a very long maritime border“.
Morocco and Spain should finalize around twenty bilateral agreements out of the hundred on the table. Many sectors based on the content of the roadmap which details the new Hispano-Moroccan relations and the points of agreement agreed between the two countries are ready to be addressed as well. The Head of the Moroccan government Aziz Akhannouch, his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, as well as the CGEM, CEOE and the Morocco-Spain Economic Council believe, and even affirm, that “cooperation between Spanish and Moroccan companies and the energy transition will be at the heart of this encounter.
Indeed, the energy transition is one of the elements included in the roadmap, as well as the immediate and gradual restoration of maritime links for travelers between the two countries. Cooperation in the field of migration will also be relaunched and above all strengthened. But sectoral cooperation will have to be reactivated in all areas of common interest and in the first place, it is the economy that would benefit from it through the sectors of trade, energy, industry, culture, etc.