France is ready to invest alongside Morocco in Sahara, territory claimed by the separatists of the Polisario Front, declared French Minister of Foreign Trade Franck Riester, beginning a visit to Morocco on Thursday.
“We have to make sure that we work together, we have common interests,” Riester, who is on a two-day visit to Morocco, told journalists at the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Casablanca, saying wanting to work “on the rebound of the relationship”.
Recalling the visit to Rabat by Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné at the end of February, which aimed to warm up ties after a series of diplomatic crises, Mr. Riester once again praised Morocco’s “efforts in terms of investments in the Sahara “.
France is “ready to support these efforts”, he declared, indicating that Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AfD) dedicated to the private sector, could contribute to the financing of a high voltage line between Dakhla and Casablanca.
France is the leading foreign investor in Morocco and trade reached a record of 14 billion euros in 2023. In Rabat, Mr. Riester met Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Commerce and Mohcine Jazouli, Deputy Minister of Investment.*
(Source : AFP)