Somali delegation meets three Moroccan ministries and ten institutions at economic cooperation conference in Rabat

Mogadishu (SONNA) - A Somali government delegation met three Moroccan ministries and ten other institutions during the Somalia-Morocco economic cooperation conference that opened in Rabat on 19 October, the Director General of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Abdullahi Hayir Duale, has said.

Speaking to SONNA, Duale said the conference focused on cooperation between the two countries in training, the exchange of experience, investment, and stimulating and growing the economies of Somalia and Morocco. He said many Somali government institutions took part, and the delegation visited key sites in Morocco and held discussions on economic matters.

Duale thanked the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), which invited the delegation, facilitated the programme and supported the Somali team throughout the visit. The delegation met the Director General of the Agency at his office.

In the energy sector, the delegation met Morocco’s national electricity authority, accompanied by the General Manager of Somalia’s National Electricity Agency, Abdullahi Dayib. Duale said the two sides discussed how Morocco could share its experience with Somalia, which he said can generate electricity from the sun throughout the year as well as from wind.

The delegation also met Morocco’s investment agency, joined by the head of Somalia’s investment agency, Mohamed Yusuf, and discussed how the two countries could work together and exchange experience in investment.

The Somali team visited the major international port of Tangier and other Moroccan ports, where talks focused on port management and on cooperation and the exchange of expertise between Somalia’s major ports, such as the Port of Mogadishu, and the large ports of Morocco.

In agriculture, the delegation met Morocco’s agency for improved seeds, where Duale said the Somali side gained considerable knowledge. The agricultural section of the Somali Chamber of Commerce was part of the delegation.

At Morocco’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the delegation discussed how private companies in the two countries could exchange information, visits, experience and training, and how the Somali and Moroccan private sectors could work more closely together.

The delegation also met Morocco’s union of banks, and received a presentation from Morocco’s mining agency.

Among the ministries visited, Duale said the delegation was received by the Director General of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where talks centred on cooperation in trade and industrialisation. At the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, discussions focused on how Somalia could benefit from Morocco’s experience in farming and in fisheries, a sector in which Morocco exports widely to Europe.

At the Ministry of Tourism, Duale held talks with the Secretary General and his team. He said the Somali side made a presentation on Somalia’s tourism opportunities, including the country’s long coastline, its national parks and its historical sites, and discussed how Somalia could benefit from Morocco’s experience in hospitality.

Duale said the two sides agreed on training and the exchange of experience, and that Morocco is expected soon to open tourism training for people working in the sector in Somalia, from both the private sector and the Ministry.

Throughout the conference, he said, the Somali delegation presented the country’s resources and opportunities to its Moroccan counterparts. These included its potential for solar and wind power, its many ports, and 33 million hectares of land, of which he said 10 million hectares can be farmed and opened to investment.

He said the delegation also highlighted Somalia’s coastline, the longest in Africa, for tourism investment and fisheries, as well as livestock, industry and minerals. Duale said the delegation described Somalia as “The Beauty of Africa”, a country located at an important gateway in the Horn of Africa.

Duale described the conference as successful and fruitful, and said follow-up work will be carried out and further meetings will take place. He noted that Somalia and Morocco are both members of the Arab League, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations, and share many ties as Muslim countries.

He said he expects the outcomes reached by each institution with its Moroccan counterpart to benefit the people and governments of both countries. In tourism, he said, Somalia will draw on the experience of Morocco, which he described as Africa’s leading tourism country, to bring its own tourism sector to international standards.