Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, highlighted, on Monday in New York, the Royal Atlantic Initiative, during a ministerial meeting chaired by US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

Initiated in 2022 under Rabat’s Atlantic African States Process, this initiative launched by HM King Mohammed VI is an “ambitious” cooperation strategy aiming to promote shared peace, stability and prosperity in the African Atlantic region, stressed Bourita, during this meeting themed: “Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation.”

He added that the Royal initiative aims to enable African countries adopt their own development process, recalling that Africa's Atlantic seaboard comprises 23 countries and 70% of the population, and accounts for 40% of inter-African trade.

This area, which is brimming with potential and opportunities in key sectors such as tourism and mineral resources, also faces enormous challenges such as terrorism, climate change, maritime insecurity and overfishing, he said at the meeting attended by several other ministers from both shores of the Atlantic.

Welcoming the many important steps taken by the countries of the African Initiative to strengthen its cooperation framework, the Minister recalled that a Secretariat had been set up in Rabat, an Action Program had been adopted and a Forum of Ministers of Justice had been created.

Within this framework, he announced that the Action Plans of the three thematic groups, which provide for concrete actions in the fields of security, blue economy, connectivity, energy and climate change, will be drawn up at a forthcoming ministerial meeting of these States.

In this context, the Minister welcomed the momentum of cooperation in all Atlantic regions, South and North, noting that the African Atlantic States Process, as an expression of the African vision of cooperation for this space, is committed to strengthening the partnership with other initiatives for a stable, prosperous and resilient Atlantic region.

Morocco is convinced that a solid, mutually beneficial partnership is necessary to support the implementation of common goals, through efficient cooperation mechanisms, he stressed.

“Through coordinated efforts between our initiatives, which are complementary to each other, we will be able to better serve the interest of the Atlantic community to foster shared prosperity and stability,” Bourita added.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates also praised US efforts to unite Atlantic countries from all continents around common objectives, expressing his conviction that no country or continent can overcome the challenges of the Atlantic alone.

“Morocco is delighted to have actively contributed to the American initiative by co-leading, with Angola and Spain, the Working Group on Marine Planning,” the Minister noted.