Morocco’s Upper House Speaker Holds Talks With Brazilian Peer

Speaker of the House of Councillors, Mohamed Ould Errachid, held talks, on Monday in Rabat, with the President of Brazil’s Federal Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, on a working visit to Morocco. During this meeting, Ould Errachid said Pacheco’s visit will contribute to further strengthening the ties between Morocco’s House of Councillors and the Brazilian Senate, the Upper House said in a press release. In this context, the Speaker of the House of Councillors stressed that parliamentary ties between the two institutions are part of the momentum of bilateral ties between the two friendly countries, which were further strengthened thanks to HM King Mohammed VI’s historic visit in 2004 to several Latin American countries, including Brazil, and the bilateral agreements that have been sealed on the occasion, covering a plethora of political, economic and cultural fields. Ould Errachid recalled the Atlantic Initiative launched by HM the King to create a solid institutional framework federating the 23 countries of the continent overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, making the Kingdom of Morocco’s Atlantic coastline a starting point for strengthening the logistical connection between the two shores. Concerning parliamentary diplomacy, the Upper House Speaker highlighted the importance of parliamentary cooperation in promoting and strengthening ties between the two friendly countries, and developing this cooperation within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two institutions in 2018, which stipulates the need to establish permanent channels for parliamentary dialogue and promote exchanges of visits, experience and expertise in various areas of parliamentary action. As for the Kingdom’s territorial integrity, Ould Errachid hailed the firm position of the Federal Republic of Brazil, welcoming in this context the adoption by the Brazilian Senate of a motion in support of the Moroccan autonomy initiative in the Sahara, and calling for “more expressive” support for the Kingdom’s “serious and reliable” efforts to find a solution to this regional conflict. For his part, Pacheco praised the quality and depth of relations between the Federal Republic of Brazil and the Kingdom of Morocco in political, economic and cultural spheres, as well as in climate change issues. In this respect, he highlighted the role of parliamentary diplomacy in strengthening strategic Moroccan-Brazilian ties, underlining the need to work towards strengthening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and to build on the significant resources at their disposal. Geography is no longer an obstacle, he said, underlining the prime importance his country attaches to the Royal Atlantic Initiative, which consolidates Morocco’s position as a gateway to the African continent. On this occasion, Pacheco extended an invitation to Ould Errachid to visit the Federal Republic of Brazil to further explore prospects for bilateral and multilateral parliamentary cooperation, and to hold consultations on various topics and issues of common interest.