Rabat: Participants in the 3rd South-South Parliamentary Dialogue Forum expressed their deep appreciation and sincere gratitude to HM King Mohammed VI for the prominent, pioneering role the Sovereign has been playing to promote South-South cooperation.
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, the Rabat Declaration, read by the House of Councilors’ Speaker Mohamed Ould Errachid during the Forum’s closing session, saw parliamentary leaders from across the globe commend HM the King’s support for development and solidarity-based projects and initiatives aimed at furthering unity, complementarity, integration, and shared development.
The Forum’s participants praised the Sovereign’s Atlantic Initiative, which seeks to enable the Sahel countries to access the Atlantic Ocean and build a solid institutional framework that unites Atlantic Africa. This initiative aims to enhance synergy among the countries of the South through greater logistical connectivity, economic openness, and regional integration, particularly in the African, Arab, Latin American, and Asian geo-economic space.
In this context, they commended all successful regional initiatives and tracks for integration and cooperation in Africa, the Arab world, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia designed to achieve prosperity and shared development, increase investment and trade opportunities, and lay solid foundations for a shared, more prosperous and sustainable future.
The parliamentarians further emphasized the importance of bilateral, interregional, and continental parliamentary dialogues among the countries of the South as they rise to the new challenges facing international cooperation. They stressed that respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and non-interference in their internal affairs is the basis for peace, security, stability, and sustainable development.
They also pledged to consolidate the work of regional and continental parliamentary unions and national parliaments in Africa, the Arab world, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. This aims to enhance coordination, communication, consultation, and the exchange of views on current strategic issues, thereby keeping abreast of swift technological developments and laying down legislative frameworks that consolidate the foundations of sustainable development and industrial progress in the countries of the South, help address future challenges, and support entrepreneurship.
In this regard, they pledged to support research and innovation in artificial intelligence technology as well as responsible practices aimed at encouraging the use of that technology to promote across-the-board development in the countries of the South.
On this occasion, they noted the importance of convening this Forum as a platform for exploring pathways and possibilities for regional integration and closer South-South cooperation. This strategic, participatory, and solidarity-based approach is likely to lead to complementarity, more effective integration pathways, and greater capacity for adaptation, coordination, and strategic positioning within new systems of global interaction.
They also highlighted the role of this Forum as a mechanism for parliamentary advocacy regarding common issues and as a means to rise to the challenges faced and make the voice of the peoples of the South heard in various international gatherings.
The Rabat Declaration commended the high level of discussion, dialogue, and interaction which characterized the Forum’s proceedings and activities, as well as the valuable contributions of participants. It praised the presentations made on the various topics of the Forum, particularly those relating to strengthening interregional and continental dialogues among the countries of the South.
It also highlighted the importance of policies aimed at strengthening strategic partnerships across economic, social, and humanitarian sectors in order to achieve shared development and integration, and lay the groundwork for cooperation, solidarity, peace, stability, and prosperity.