Address of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, at the Morocco-Andean Community Parliamentary Forum
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
Honorable Ennam Miyara, Speaker of the House of Councilors,
Honorable Fidel Espinoza Sandoval, President of the Andean Parliament,
Distinguished members of the Andean Parliament,
Esteemed Secretary-General of the Andean Parliament,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased and honored to see us meet today to launch a new aspect of multilateral parliamentary cooperation, which gathers the Moroccan Parliament, on the one hand, and the Andean Parliament, on the other.
The initiative to establish the Morocco-Andean Community Parliamentary Forum explicitly reflects the development of relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the bloc of Andean States. It also expresses our clear and serious will to advance in promoting our partnership given the significant global challenges imposed on us, namely in security, energy, climate change, migration, and other areas.
This Forum will undoubtedly form an opportunity for all of us to discuss numerous questions in order to coordinate laws, consolidate cooperation between the Member States, support participatory democracy, and reinforce development for our peoples.
Honorable President,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The creation of the Andean economic bloc during the 1960s aimed at accelerating the coordination and liberalization of trade and creating a customs union between its members. In this respect, the 1969 Cartagena Agreement is considered a reference in this direction.
On this basis, we, the Kingdom of Morocco, aspire towards advancing the economic ties that link us with Andean countries and to develop our position as a qualitative partner in Africa and the Arab world with your community, considering that we, nowadays, live in a world where borders no longer have the same impact on the movement of goods, services, and investments and because when the will is strong enough, economic integration operations can transcend all borders and oceans.
We are happy today to strengthen this bond with Andean countries, and we would have loved for our region to have the same opportunities and to reinforce the economic and commercial links with countries of the Maghreb. However, and unfortunately, all the attempts, including the call of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God glorify him, to open borders with brotherly Algeria, have found nothing but its stubborn leaders who insist on keeping the borders closed in the face of the movement of goods, products, and people. This approach does nothing but harm the peoples of the whole region and force it to waste its chance at development, integration, and economic and social complementarity.
Today, trade between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Andean States is still poor and below the opportunities offered in reality. In this vein, we should note that the Andean region includes promising economies in the Americas, and that the Kingdom of Morocco is one of the most stable and active economies within its regional and continental sphere.
However, we are jointly laying the ground today for a near future characterized by collective efforts to support the economic and commercial cooperation ties, provide decent living conditions for our peoples, and achieve their prosperity and growth.
The choice of energy security as a second theme for discussion in this Forum reflects the imbalances in energy supply and production rates caused by the instability impacting several regions around the globe.
We surely all know the unprecedented spike in fuel prices and staple products, which has impacted the buying power of individuals and resulted in a rise in their living costs. Unfortunately, this instability has also caused a degradation in the fundamentals of food security of several developing and underdeveloped populations.
In this respect, the Andean Community has accumulated an outstanding experience in energy coordination and integration between its Member States, culminating in the creation of the Council of Energy Ministers in 2003. In the same context, the Andean Parliament ratified framework laws to promote several sectors, including the development of sustainable energies.
Today, I am happy to declare that the Kingdom of Morocco willingly places its pioneering experience in renewable and clean energies at the disposal of Andean countries. Our experience aims at achieving energy efficiency and independence and contributing to the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions. In this regard, the energy strategy of the Kingdom of Morocco has managed to raise the portion of electricity from renewable energies while decreasing the use of imported fossil fuels.
The energy transition of the Kingdom of Morocco does not only reflect the orientation towards developing renewable energy projects but also aims to lower the amount of consumed energy through rationalizing the use of energy in buildings and technologies.
Honorable President,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The debate that gathers us today manifests the importance of creating multilateral initiatives similar to the one we are launching today, intending to exchange expertise, coordinate positions, and consolidate political consultation to reinforce communication and solidarity between our countries.
To conclude, I would like to express my great esteem for your keenness and belief in the future of the Andean peoples. I would also like to commend your support for the experiences of unity and integration around the world and your rejection of the orientations towards separation and division, which would never serve a cause, nor contribute to solving the current issues and challenges we face.
Thank you for your keen listening.”