News
Friday 3 February 2023

Morocco, Spain Discuss Means to Strengthen Cooperation in Water and Infrastructure Fields

Morocco, Spain Discuss Means to Strengthen Cooperation in Water and Infrastructure Fields

The means to strengthen cooperation in the field of water and road and border infrastructures were the focus of talks, Thursday in Rabat, between Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, and Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Programs, Raquel Sanchez Jiménez.

The two parties examined, during this meeting, the means for an optimal implementation of bilateral partnership agreements, particularly through the development of joint action plans in the field of water.

The talks were also an opportunity to affirm the commitment of the two kingdoms to strengthen their consultations in preparation of international water agendas, in order to meet the new challenges related to adaptation to climate change.

In a statement to the press, Baraka said that this meeting is an opportunity to exchange on strategic projects, including the fixed link between the two countries via the Strait of Gibraltar and ways to improve the management and maintenance of roads and consolidate cooperation between Moroccan and Spanish ports.

Emphasis was placed, in this context, on the need to enter into a logic of green port by taking into account climate change, and to take into consideration the expectations of economic actors in terms of strengthening the link between Morocco and Spain and thus the junction between Africa and Europe.

For her part, the Spanish minister expressed, in a similar statement, "great satisfaction" of the talks she had with her Moroccan counterpart, stressing that this meeting of "great importance" was an opportunity to raise several issues of common interest.

"We are committed to setting in the coming days the date of the meeting of the Joint Commission to discuss the next steps to be taken on the project of fixed link between Spain and Morocco via the Strait of Gibraltar," said Sanchez Jiménez.

The Spanish minister welcomed the progress made in bilateral cooperation, noting that both parties are committed to working together for green ports, vectors of clean energy.

In the same context, Baraka held talks with the 3rd vice president of the Government and Minister of Energy Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, focusing in particular on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of water management in view of the challenges related to climate change.

MAP: 03 February 2023