Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, March 22, 2013 (MAP)
President of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, presided, Friday evening at the Presidential Palace in Abidjan, the opening of a working session between members of the official delegation accompanying King Mohammed VI during his visit to Côte d'Ivoire and members of the Ivorian government.
The meeting sought to identify major axes of cooperation between Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire over the coming months in order to develop economic and trade exchanges which do not match the political ties between the two countries.
Talks covered draft agreement that will be submitted to the upcoming meeting of the joint grand commission to be held in June in Abidjan. The draft agreements include vocational training, agriculture, sea fisheries, tourism, decentralization, ports and sea transport, industrial cooperation and water management. On the occasion of the official visit of King Mohammed VI to Cote d'Ivoire, the two countries agreed to consolidate the institutional framework governing their cooperation in order to bolster relations in all fields. On Tuesday, Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire signed a series of cooperation agreements in the fields of reciprocal encouragement and protection of investments, fishing and aquaculture, air services, vocational training in tourism, and civilian protection. The Moroccan delegation that took part in the meeting comprised the sovereign's advisors Zoulikha Nasri and Fouad Ali El-Himma, in addition to the ministers of foreign affairs and cooperation, Habous and Islamic affairs, economy and finance, equipment and transport, agriculture and sea fisheries, Tourism, health and delegate minister to the interior. The Ivoirian delegation, lead by Prime minister, Daniel Kablan Duncan, comprised several cabinet members, including the foreign minister, interior minister and defense minister