Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Hassan Benomar Receives Chairperson of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation at the Mexican Chamber of Deputies

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Hassan Benomar, received on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at the House, the Chairperson of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation at the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, and a member of the Morocco-Mexico Parliamentary Friendship Group, Mr. Javier Joaquín López Casarín. The reception comes on the sidelines of the visit of the Speaker of the Mexican Senate, Ms. Olga Sanchez Cordero, to the Kingdom on June 9-12, 2022.

During their talks, the two parties reviewed the main challenges that face Morocco and Mexico, mainly food, energy, and water security, in addition to the phenomenon of migration. The two parties also discussed the prospects of parliamentary cooperation between the legislative institutions of the two countries.

At the outset of the meeting, Mr. Hassan Benomar highlighted the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in consolidating cooperation relations between Morocco and Mexico. He also added that parliamentary diplomacy is an efficient mechanism to promote the image of Morocco, especially regarding the cause of our territorial integrity. In this regard, he noted that the autonomy proposal presented by our country to settle the artificial conflict around the Moroccan Sahara had been welcomed by several countries, namely the United States and Spain. In the same vein, he invited the Mexican officials to visit the Southern provinces of the Kingdom to explore their development on various levels, which refutes the allegations and distortions promoted by the foes of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom, especially in some Latin American countries.

In addition to reaffirming that Morocco is a country of openness, tolerance, and freedom, Mr. Benomar underlined the readiness of our country to coordinate and work hand-in-hand with Mexico to face the common challenges the countries face, especially food, energy, and water security, in addition to the phenomenon of migration. The Deputy Speaker of the House also noted that Morocco has adopted a proactive approach to address these challenges, thanks to the enlightened vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

In their interventions, the Chairperson of the Public Finance Control Committee, Rep. Latifa Lablih; Rep. Najoua Koukouss, a member of the Justice, Legislation and Human Rights Committee; Ms. Khaoula El Kharchi, a member of the Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs and Moroccan Expatriates Committee; and Rep. Alae-Eddine Bahraoui, a member of the Finance and Economic Development Committee affirmed the common challenges that Morocco and Mexico face, as well as their enormous potentials. In this very context, they called for reinforcing cooperation between the two countries as part of South-South Cooperation and noted the role of the Parliament in solidifying bilateral cooperation.

On the same occasion, the members of the House shed light on the significant gains achieved by our country in recent years in consolidating the democratic edifice, preserving human rights and freedom of speech, and advancing the situation of women on the horizon of achieving comprehensive gender parity.

For his part, Mr. López Casarín confirmed that Mexico and Morocco have many commonalities thanks to their geographical location, as they both face the same challenges, such as migration. He further noted that Mexico's policy on this issue considers respect for human rights and the control of migrants to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Moreover, Mr. López Casarín stated that Mexico and Morocco are two developing economies, which requires them to share knowledge and encourage investments, adding that one of the opportunities that the two countries have to work together on is the establishment of a direct flight route between Mexico and Morocco, which shall undoubtedly reduce the journey to seven hours only.

Concerning the strengthening of cultural cooperation between the two countries, Mr. López Casarín underlined that the "Moroccan Week in Mexico" shall be organized next September; The event coincides with the celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Morocco. Besides, he seized this opportunity to extend his invitation to the Moroccan House of Representatives to send a delegation to take part in this event, thereby contributing to the reinforcement of the existing friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries.

During this meeting, Mr. López Casarín gave an overview of Mexico's political life in anticipation of the 2024 presidential elections, shedding light on some areas of concern to the Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation at the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, especially the implementation of the 30/20 Agenda on space, and other questions related to technology, and gender equality.

It should be noted that Mr. López Casarín is a member of the Ecological Green Party of Mexico, which participates in the current government coalition led by the Morena party. He is also the Chairperson of the Mexican-British Parliamentary Friendship Group and Vice-Chair of the American-Mexican Parliamentary Friendship.

It is also worth mentioning that Mr. López Casarín will introduce his book, "Innovation: Una Actitud” (the Approach of Innovation), at the Rabat International Book and Publishing Fair. The book is also available in Arabic.