Paris: In a welcoming address, Senator Olivier Bitz, Vice-President of the France-Morocco Friendship Group, emphasized that the group’s members were particularly pleased to receive representatives of the regions of Morocco’s Southern Provinces at the Senate. He highlighted the French Senate’s commitment to maintaining “a close relationship with Morocco” and its longstanding support for Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, one month ago, the Senate hosted a major event organized jointly with the Moroccan Embassy in Paris to mark the 50th anniversary of the Green March, “an exceptional moment celebrating Franco-Moroccan friendship within the walls of the Palais du Luxembourg,” recalled Bitz, referring to the tribute paid to the Kingdom following the historic UN Security Council resolution on the Moroccan Sahara.

He also recalled the visit by the President of the Senate, G©rard Larcher, to Laayoune last February, expressing to the Moroccan delegation the institution’s readiness “to work together to strengthen our relations (.) particularly in the framework of decentralized cooperation.”

On this occasion, Bitz highlighted “the exceptional work accomplished by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to develop the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom,” noting that “investments there are considerable, spanning a wide range of sectors: economic development, renewable energies, higher education, and health.”

“These represent many opportunities for us to identify concrete projects on which we can work together,’ he concluded.

The Moroccan delegation, led by Laila Hammouchi, Governor and Director of Local Public Services within the Directorate General of Territorial Collectivities at the Ministry of the Interior, included the President of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region, M’barka Bouaida-who also chairs the Association of Moroccan Regions-the President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, Yanja El Khattat, and the representative of the President of the LaSyoune-Sakia El Hamra region, Mhamed Abba.

On the sidelines of the Senate meeting, the Moroccan delegation also held discussions with the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-No«l Barrot.

The delegation also met on Wednesday at the National Assembly with the President of the France-Morocco Friendship Group, H©l¨ne Laporte.