Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Arab Parliament Discuss the Digitalization of Parliamentary Action and the Exchange of Experiences

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, received on Monday, May 22, 2023, at the seat of the House in Rabat, the President of the Arab Parliament, Hon. Adel Abdulrahman Al-Asoomi, and the members of the High-level Parliamentary Group on Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transition, under the Arab Parliament, chaired by Mr. Khaled Abu Hassan, on the occasion of the second Group meeting held in the Kingdom of Morocco.

The talks covered the importance of digitalizing parliamentary action in all its phases and levels and reviewed the experience of the Moroccan Parliament in this regard. They also stressed the importance of sharing it with the other Arab Parliaments. The meeting was also an opportunity to explore the roles of the High-level Parliamentary Group on Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transition of the Arab Parliament closely, and discuss the agenda of its second meeting in Rabat, its recommendations, the conclusions of the latest meetings, and the priorities of action for the next period. In addition, the two parties discussed mutual-concern issues like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

On occasion, the President of the Arab Parliament thanked the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the meeting and the open debate it featured to explore the Moroccan experience. In the same regard, he noted that the Kingdom of Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God protect him, has always supported Arab causes and that Morocco has managed to achieve a technological and industrial evolution. Besides, he added that the meeting aims to benefit from the Moroccan parliamentary experience in digitalization and share it with the other parliaments in terms of parliamentary administration, legislation, and control.

For his part, the Chairperson of the High-level Parliamentary Group on Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transition at the Arab Parliament, Mr. Khaled Abu Hassan, expressed his pride in the visit and meeting. In the same respect, he underscored that Group members are proud of the Moroccan experience in digitalizing parliamentary action and the development achieved by the Kingdom of Morocco. Moreover, he noted that the goal of the Group is to create a network that would be a reference for all parliaments in the areas of digitalization and artificial intelligence through the exchange of experiences and expertise, which the other members of the said Group confirmed.

In his intervention on occasion, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, noted the engagement of the Kingdom of Morocco in manufacturing, digital transition, and openness to modern information and communication technologies under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God glorify him. The Speaker of the House added that the House of Representatives launched a process of digitalizing parliamentary and administrative action years ago. For instance, the House elaborated in 2014 a clear e-Parliament strategy based on the best utilization of information and communication technologies to reinforce the performance of the institution, enhance its efficiency, consolidate transparency and openness, and render parliamentary information accessible to Representatives, researchers, experts, and all citizens.

During the same meeting, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami added that the digitalization of parliamentary action was conducted by Moroccan and local competences and resources, enabling the rationalization and good management of the usage of documents, provision of parliamentary information quickly and with the right accuracy, and consolidation of communication with citizens, the Government, and the other constitutional institutions. He also noted that the experience of the House of Representatives in the field has become a reference at the regional and international levels, particularly with regard to legislation, government control, automatic transcription of plenary sittings minutes, and preservation of archives.

Taking part in the meeting, Cllr. Abdelilah Hafdhi and Rep. Ilham Essaki, members of the High-level Parliamentary Group on Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transition, lauded the achievements of the Moroccan Parliament in digitalizing parliamentary action and providing and sharing information. They also expressed their satisfaction with the hosting by the Kingdom of Morocco of this meeting and reiterated the readiness of all the components of the Moroccan Parliament to share its experience with the other Arab countries and work hand-in-hand to address the challenges related to digitalization, particularly the revolution in artificial intelligence and threats linked to cybersecurity.

It should be noted that the High-level Parliamentary Group on Technology, Innovation, and Digital Transition of the Arab Parliament, which holds its second meeting in the Kingdom of Morocco, gathers the Kingdom of Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, and Egypt.