Second Summit
Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum

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Morocco Hosts Series of Events to Develop Mutually Beneficial Cooperation with Moscow

The Moscow Department of External Economic and International Relations (DEEIR) held a number of events in Morocco on 16–18 December 2019 to build interregional cooperation, strengthen partnerships with Morocco, and organize joint projects in urban development, economy, culture, and tourism. The Roscongress Foundation served as a partner in the content-related part of the events.

Minister of the Moscow Government and Director of the DEEIR Sergey Cheryomin and Rabat Mayor Mohamed Sadiki signed a Declaration of Intent on 17 December on the development of cooperation between the cities that calls for collaboration in such areas as the exchange of experience in digital technologies and their use in urban administration and planning, environmental protection, and improvements to the efficiency of transport infrastructure, among other areas.

“This is the first time that Moscow is signing a document with one of the capitals of the African continent. This is an historic event and a crucial stage in the development of relations between our countries. I hope that our fruitful cooperation will benefit the residents of our two capitals and countries and that we will exchange more achievements in our culture, history, science and technology in the coming years”, Cheryomin said.

The plenary session ‘Bilateral Cooperation between Moscow and the Kingdom of Morocco’ was held in Casablanca on 18 December. It was moderated by Roman Chukov, an aide to the Roscongress Foundation CEO. The session was attended by Cheryomin, General Consul of Russia in Casablanca Andrey Tsybenko, deputy mayors of Rabat and Casablanca as well as representatives of the DEEIR, the Moscow Export Centre and Moroccan businesses. The programme of the plenary session centred around such themes as prospects for cooperation in investment, urban studies, smart cities, trade, culture, and tourism.

The Moscow Government’s visit to Casablanca also included a roundtable ‘Digital Transformation and the Formation of a Global Digital Space. Priorities, Prospects, and Key Projects’. The roundtable was moderated by Director of the Business Competences Development Centre Oleg Gurov and attended by DEEIR Deputy Director Alexey Bondaruk, deputy mayors of Rabat and Casablanca as well as Russian and Moroccan public figures.

“In October 2019, the first Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum were held in Sochi in an effort to bolster and expand cooperation between Russia and African countries in priority areas of economic cooperation. Today, Morocco is one of Russia’s main partners in Africa, and the events that are being held will undoubtedly contribute to both the further development of bilateral relations and the overall expansion of Russian cooperation with African states”, Roscongress Foundation CEO and Chairman of the Board Alexander Stuglev said. 

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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI