Address by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, at Inauguration of 30th Extraordinary Meeting of the Forum of Speakers of the Legislative Assemblies of Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico (FOPREL)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Honorable Speaker of the House of Councilors;

Honorable Speakers of the legislative assemblies of the countries of Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, and dear colleagues,

Esteemed Heads of delegations;

Esteemed members of the National Representations;

Ladies and gentlemen,

         I feel great joy as I meet you today to commemorate two prominent dates in the history of our parliamentary Forum. The first is the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the creation of your organization, while the second is our joint celebration of the tenth anniversary of the accession of the Moroccan Parliament to this Forum as an observer member. 

        Honorable colleagues, this is an opportunity to identify the realizations accumulated by your parliamentary organization and commend the achievements of your countries in the fields of democracy and development, as well as the regional positioning that we, in the Kingdom of Morocco, are proud of. It is also an occasion to discuss the progress achieved by the relations of the Kingdom of Morocco with your countries in political and economic cooperation at the level of parliaments, governments, and economic actors. 

        In this respect, I would like to extend to you, and through you to the rest of the officials and members of your national parliaments, the heartfelt thanks for choosing the Kingdom of Morocco to hold this high-level extraordinary meeting to which you have selected the theme: “Facing the common challenges of security, climate change, and economic development.” I welcome you once again, dear guests and loyal friends. 

        Through this choice, you, honorable colleagues, have decided to address major problems and dilemmas that perch on international relations and whose repercussions burden the domestic affairs of most countries, particularly the countries of the South, including ours.

Honorable colleagues, 

         Ladies and gentlemen,

         Since the end of the Second World War, our world has rarely seen wars, conflicts, or tensions as complex and dangerous as the ones we witness today. The world order that has replaced the bipolarity that reigned for decades after 1945 is today more divided than ever as axes and alliances increase, violence and terrorism strike several regions, and country-specific and introverted tendencies flourish. Besides, other factors have been affecting international geopolitics, such as climate change and its impacts on the quality of life, stability, and standard of living; in addition to migration and displacement due to conflicts or climate conditions. 

        Moreover, terrorism erodes stability in several regions and joins forces with separatist and sectarian tendencies, which threaten the security of several countries. 

        In the face of these violent, and sometimes silent movements, the voices of wisdom, peace, and reason that advocate coexistence must prevail over the rhetoric of war and violence, and the countries of the South, including ours, must assume the responsibility of restoring calm, balance, and solidarity into international relations. Humanity, and particularly the countries of the South, should not undergo the negative consequences of globalization, nor have their voices silenced and ignored in international decision-making. The abundant resources the countries of the South enclose enable them, if they manage to transform them into wealth, to impact international relations and occupy the natural position commensurate with their cultural, demographic, geographic, and natural resource weight. 

        Our choice of the theme of the current common challenges reflects the commitment of our countries to work on achieving this objective. Indeed, the responses to such challenges may not be produced in a gathering like ours today. Yet, the institutional significance of our national parliaments in enriching the debate on the challenges we face and in advocating at the international level for justice to the people of the South in the face of the era’s dilemmas remain among the aims of our Forum. 

        On this matter, I would like to share with some of the elements of this debate, as a Moroccan in the first place, and as an African convinced with the potential of his continent and persuaded of the rights of our Southern countries to enjoy their resources and take sovereign decisions following the interests of their peoples. 

        First, it is a well-known fact that the countries of the South in general, and Africa and Latin America in particular, enclose great potential that must be utilized and transformed into wealth to achieve economic and social development for their peoples. 

        These two geographical areas (Africa and Latin America) have more than 70% of the arable lands in the world, whereas only a little percentage of these lands is exploited, and you are of course aware, honorable colleagues, of the significant challenges of food security in the world amidst the current and future crises. 

        The second matter is that of the human resources we have, as the vast majority of the inhabitants of our countries are young people who need education, training, and inclusion in order to be at the heart of comprehensive development and drive the wheel of economy and services through production and consumption. 

        The third matter concerns the marine resources the countries of Latin America and Africa enclose, as both continents are surrounded by two oceans and two seas. Hence, this maritime domain offers enormous opportunities for advancing the sea economy, such as seaside tourism and fishing, in addition to the potential mineral resources and fish resources the marine shelf encompasses and the decisive roles of seas in trade, exchanges, and strategic positioning. 

        The fourth matter is that of our countries’ potential to produce green energies, the energies of the future, which are a global challenge amidst the context of climate change.

Honorable colleagues, 

         In contrast to these potentials, we face, as I have already mentioned, major challenges that must be transformed into opportunities for growth and renaissance. Our countries carry a heavier burden of the impacts of climate change than their peers, thus deepening vulnerability and overwhelming public spending. In the meantime, their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions does not exceed 12% (4% for Africa and 8% for the entire continent of Latin America, and half of it does not come from fossil energies or industrial gases). Besides, our countries have not benefited from the yields of industrialization over hundreds of years, contrary to other industrial powers that built their civilizations on manufacturing.

        Another common challenge we face is the phenomenon of migration. Although the general tendency of this phenomenon’s indices heads towards the fact that it is within the same geographical, continental, or regional area, our migrant citizens suffer, in several contexts, from stigmatization; at a time when migration is supposed to be a way for mutual enrichment, and while individuals migrate in search for income, employment, and security, which begs the question on the relation between migration, development, and international solidarity.

         Honorable colleagues, 

         Thanks to their geographical positions, resources, and cultures, the countries of Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Kingdom of Morocco can assume a crucial role in addressing these challenges. Our countries rely on a rich, common linguistic and cultural depth. They also witness significant development dynamics, alongside their keenness to voluntarily anchor democracy and institutional building according to their national institutional traditions. 

        In the footsteps of your countries, the Kingdom of Morocco offers historical opportunities for cooperation, advancement of exchanges, and localization of investments, thanks to its position overlooking the Atlantic, its closeness to Europe, and its entrenchment within its African and Mediterranean depth. 

Similarly to your countries, the Kingdom of Morocco encloses and will enclose further infrastructure that serves as a lever for exchanges and cooperation, such as its seaports overlooking the Mediterranean and the ones on the Atlantic, including the Casablanca Seaport, the Tangier-Med Seaport, and Nador West-Med Seaport, and the Dakhla Seaport in the Moroccan southern provinces, which will serve as an international platform and hub for exchanges between Africa, America, Europe, and the rest of the world. 

        The grand projects the Kingdom of Morocco is conducting in its southern provinces, in particular, serve as valuable opportunities to inject fresh momentum into cooperation and exchanges with our African brothers. 

        In this regard, I should recall the strategic Atlantic Initiative His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may Allah assist him, launched to ease the access of landlocked African Sahel countries to the Atlantic. This initiative will give birth to major dynamics in the construction of road, railroad, and seaport infrastructure, as well as in exchanging merchandise, the movement of individuals, and superstructures, including digital technologies. 

        This initiative will also contribute to achieving strategic gains, as it relies on solidarity and the desire to transform Africa into a prosperous continent that enjoys its material and human resources and aims to make the Atlantic area one of exchanges and mutual growth. 

        Besides, the Kingdom of Morocco has accumulated, as you are aware, great expertise in producing energy from renewable sources, as testify the megaprojects it conducts in the field of solar energy, wind energy, and soon green hydrogen, in addition to its globally acclaimed expertise and ancient traditions in agriculture and maritime fisheries. Those, ladies and gentlemen, are among the areas that offer the chance for cooperation, partnership, and exchange of expertise. 

Honorable colleagues, 

         Recalling the factors of geography, culture, language, and strategic vision, the Kingdom of Morocco remains the closest one to your countries, and as I have constantly reaffirmed, our country will be your platform, and it will put at your disposal its network of relations in Africa, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia, as it entertains free-trade agreements and advanced and exceptional ties with several economic powers and friendly countries. 

        We must utilize our shared values and our commitment to openness to anchor our economic cooperation and reinforce the mutual support between our countries within a scope of respect and esteem that have always marked our relations and within abidance by international law and its core foundation that is the respect of the territorial integrity of States as a cornerstone of said law and the central pillar of stability. 

        I hope the tenth anniversary of our accession to your Forum will mark the start of a new era in our relations that we wish to advance from cooperation to partnership and mutual exchange. Rest always assured that you are establishing partnerships with a loyal and sincere country that constantly respects its friendships and honors its commitments and contracts that are built on mutual trust. 

         I welcome you once again and thank you for your keen listening.