"The similarity between the Kingdom and Manitoba in several promising and innovative sectors in the economic field, such as aerospace, agri-food, energy, electronics and building materials is likely to promote and facilitate opportunities for economic and commercial cooperation, particularly under the current post-Covid Industrial Recovery Plan developed by the Moroccan government," according to statement by Morocco's Embassy to Canada.

In a recent meeting with Morocco's ambassador in Ottawa, Souriya Otmani, Deputy Premier of Manitoba, Kelvin Goertzen called for exchanging visits and trade missions, first in a virtual setting and then face-to-face, as soon as the sanitary circumstances allow it.

Goertzen expressed his wish to visit Morocco and welcomed "very favorably" the idea of opening an Honorary Consulate of Morocco in Manitoba.

Discussions also focused on cooperation in the academic and educational fields with a view to attracting more Moroccan students to Manitoba's universities, which currently count about a hundred students from the Kingdom, unlike other Canadian provinces such as Quebec, Ontario or New Brunswick, the same source added.

On this occasion, Otmani highlighted the many institutional and socio-economic development reforms carried out under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI that have earned Morocco the reputation of being a politically stable, economically dynamic and emerging country at all levels.

Manitoba has a population of approximately 1.4 million, including a Moroccan community of some 3,500 members.