Rabat- Morocco and Russia boosted bilateral cooperation on Wednesday with the signing of 11 agreements in energy, agriculture, culture, education, investment and trade sectors, following talks between Prime Minister Saadeddine al-Othmani and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Medvedev is on an official visit to Morocco, along with a number of members of the Russian government, businessmen and senior officials.
“The visit of the Russian prime minister to Morocco falls within a clear will for cooperation, which was initiated by King Mohammed VI’s historic visit to Moscow in March 2016,” Othmani said during the signing ceremony of the partnership agreements.
Othmani explained that trade exchange with Russia has developed since the signing of the trade and economic agreement, which helped increase the volume of trade from around $200 million in 2001 to $2.5 billion in 2015.
In 2013, a new phase was launched between the two countries after the signing of a cooperation agreement in the fishing sector, the Moroccan prime minister noted.
“Economic cooperation between the two countries remains satisfactory, and trade is on an upward path, but there is still work to be done to achieve a more balanced trade relationship between the two countries,” he stated.
Othmani also expressed his country’s readiness to “establish an expanded tripartite partnership between our countries on the one hand, and Africa on the other, engaging the public and private sectors in order to carry out important projects, in favor of the three parties.”
For his part, Medvedev expressed his country’s determination to develop a partnership with Morocco, particularly in the fields of energy, agriculture and tourism, as well as to enhance military and security cooperation.
The Russian official underlined the importance of continuing to supply the Moroccan market with its needs of grains in exchange for the import of fruits and Moroccan vegetables.
Medvedev pointed to the importance of expanding cooperation in the fields of energy technology and tourism, noting that the number of Russian citizens visiting Morocco was on the rise.
Meetings between Russian and Moroccan officials on Wednesday witnessed the signing of 11 bilateral agreements in various fields of cooperation.