Rabat: The Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, received the President of the French National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and the President of the French Senate, Gérard Larcher, on Thursday in Rabat.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, they arrived on an official visit to the Kingdom at the head of a joint parliamentary delegation to participate in the 5th session of the Morocco-France Parliamentary Forum. This visit is part of efforts to consolidate the partnership between the legislative institutions of the two countries and strengthen ties of friendship and bilateral cooperation, as noted in a press release from the Office of the Head of Government.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, the minister in charge of Relations with Parliament and government spokesperson, Mustapha Baitas, as well as the French Ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier.

At the start of the meeting, both pa
rties acknowledged the quality of the special, long-standing friendship between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic. This relationship was further enhanced in October 2024 with the signing by His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, of the declaration on the “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership,” along with the signing of investment agreements worth pound 10 billion covering several strategic sectors.

On this occasion, the Head of Government affirmed that the French Republic’s support for the Kingdom’s sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara and the increasing number of visits by French officials to the southern provinces demonstrate France’s clear support for the autonomy initiative within the framework of Morocco’s territorial integrity. This support opens up new prospects for cooperation and coordination on regional and international issues and strengthens the bilateral economic partnership.

This meeting also highlighted the importance of the Morocco-
France Parliamentary Forum as a strategic space for dialogue, consultation, and exchange of views between Moroccan and French parliamentarians, with a view to coordinating positions and examining various issues of common interest.