Rabat – Russia is planning to forge a free trade zone with several African countries, including Morocco.
Sputnik News reported the news earlier this week, quoting President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to develop cooperation with North African nations.
“We are preparing agreements on a free trade area with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. It’s all of North Africa. There are many more points of development on the continent and there are very interesting countries,” Sputnik quoted Putin as saying during a meeting with the Russian government.
Russia’s aim is to use bilateral ties with African countries to deepen economic exchanges with the continent.
“We have all seen with you that [African countries] consider Russia as a friend, and we treat African countries as friends,” the president said. “We need to turn that level of political trust into economic cooperation.”
The comment came following the Africa-Russia summit, convening heads of state and senior officials from across the continent – including Morocco.
Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch attended the event, in which he reiterated the Moroccan determination to boost bilateral ties and trade with Russia.
During the event, Akhannouch stressed that the summit reflects Russia’s determination to “strengthen friendly ties and constructive cooperation with the African countries.”
During the summit, the Russian government also stressed the importance of cooperation with Morocco.
During the event, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova emphasized the remarkable cooperation between the two countries covering different sectors including economy, finance, tourism, business, and more.
She explained that the thriving partnership between Moscow and Rabat has been underpinned by the Russia-Morocco Strategic Partnership Agreement, which has been in effect since 2002 and was further bolstered in 2016 through the signing of the “Declaration on the Deep Strategic Partnership.”
Source : Morocco World News
