Lower House Speaker Holds Talks with FOPREL Officials

House of Representatives Speaker Rachid Talbi Alami held bilateral talks in Rabat on Thursday with speakers and representatives of the legislative institutions of Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico (FOPREL), upon the conclusion of FOPREL’s 30th extraordinary meeting, hosted by the Moroccan Parliament on November 27-28. Talbi Alami received respectively Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador Ernesto Alfredo Castro Aldana, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Dominican Republic Alfredo Pacheco Osoria, Speaker of the National Congress of Honduras Luis Redondo Guifarro and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Panama Jamis Gaspar Acosta Guerra, according to a press release from the House of Representatives. He also received Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Belize Jorge Emilio Espat, Former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, Former President of the FOPREL (2014-2021), and Chairperson of the Committee on International Relations and External Trade at the Legislative Assembly Luis Fernando Mendoza, as well as Former Speaker and current member of the Mexican House of Representatives Marcela Guerra. During these talks, the speakers and representatives of FOPREL’s legislative assemblies commended the success of this extraordinary meeting hosted by the Moroccan Parliament, and the prominent resolutions it culminated in, particularly the resolution granting Moroccan Parliament the status of advanced partner within the FOPREL, according to the same source. They also stressed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in reinforcing cooperation ties between Morocco and various FOPREL member states, in order to promote parliamentary cooperation and the activation of joint parliamentary friendship groups between the Moroccan Parliament and various FOPREL legislative institutions. On this occasion, the Lower House Speaker recalled the common challenges facing Morocco and the FOPREL countries, which require intensive cooperation and exchange of experiences and expertise on issues and areas of common interest. He also stressed the global and multidimensional development of the Kingdom’s southern provinces, stating that the autonomy plan presented by Morocco to end the artificial dispute over Moroccan Sahara enjoys broad international support. Talbi Alami also highlighted the strategic initiatives launched by HM King Mohammed VI to strengthen South-South cooperation, mentioning the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline project, the Atlantic Initiative for African countries access to the Atlantic Ocean, and other agreements and projects.