Allocution d’ouverture de Monsieur le Ministre Délégué auprès du Ministre des

Affaires Etrangères et de la Coopération Internationale

Chargé de la Coopération Africaine, à l’occasion de la conférence

ATLANTIC DIALOGUES 2018

tenue sous le thème :

« Atlantic Dynamics: Overcoming the choke points »

Marrakech, le 13 décembre 2018

Her Highness Lalla Joumala, Ambasador of the Kingdom of
Morocco to the United States of America;
His Excellency Mr. Andre Azoulay, Advisor to High Majecty the
King Mohamed VI;
Her Excellency Mrs. Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State of the
United States of America;
Distinguished Ministers, Ambassadors, and members of the
diplomatic community;
Mister Karim El Aynaoui Managing Director of the Policy Centre for
the New South;
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;
Let me first thank the Policy Centre for the New South for organising this
event. I would like also to seize this opportunity to congratulate you for the
new designation of your Think Tank which will open a new era. It is my honour
to deliver a speech before so many talented and influential people.
I have to admit that when I received the invitation and saw the topic of this
year’s event “Atlantic Dynamics, overcoming the choke points”, it
started making me think about how Atlantic dynamics came to be and how we
can move the dialogue forward by promoting the inter Atlantic collaboration.
Is the Atlantic merely a basin with 4 continents on its shores?
I don’t think so. It’s more than that: it is a space that gathers people,
civilisations, cultures, that share a common history and destiny. This is how I
envision the Atlantic Ocean.
Having said that, I think that the Atlantic dynamics are yet to be developed
especially in this particular context and unstable environment, where the
world is experiencing a difficult time due to conflicts, recession, extremism,
poverty and climate change … just to name but a few.
Ladies and Gentleman;
Historically the Atlantic was thought to be the Edge of the World, then became
central in building European wealth, to end up at the heart of the 20 th century
geopolitics under the name of Atlanticism and the creation of NATO. North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation says it all.
Similarly, most just focus on both North America and Western Europe. Africa
and Latin America have yet to be fully embedded in the Atlantic dynamics to

2
make it complete. We can only bemoan the lack of communication and
cooperation involving the southern shores of the ocean.
In the meantime, the Pacific has risen as a predominant space for the economy
and geopolitics at the cost of the Atlantic. The Pacific, thanks to strong will,
leadership and a clear vision attracted intense North-South, South-South
commerce and investments through many incentives. While its south
continents are more focused on intra-continental concerns, we should develop
a common vision and clear roadmap to broaden and further Atlantic
cooperation, be it South-South or North-South cooperation.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen ;
Despite these choke points - to quote the theme of today’s symposium - we
have to take time to reflect upon our shared challenges to grasp this sense of
commonality. It is my belief that we can achieve more if we come together by
focusing on what makes us similar. No matter what our differences might be,
we have to make it a strength rather than a liability. I am adamant that
diversity is a strength.
Let’s be honest, we are all facing the same threats related to climate change, to
hydric stress, to desertification, to security threats and to extremism. These
threats have no boundaries, they have consequences that affect all of us every
day, whether we are from the North or The South, East or West of the Atlantic.
If such challenges are not reason enough to make us work together and find
solutions, I don’t know what is?
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;
In order to truly engage on Atlantic Dynamics, we need to ensure that it is
more inclusive of the Southern shores. By being more inclusive we will enable
East-West, North-South and South-South dialogue and address our common
challenges through consultation and cooperation. Such collaboration must
entail frequent bilateral and multilateral meetings and fora.
By tackling urgent threats, Atlantic dynamics can also be a source of wealth,
development and co-prosperity for all our nations. The Atlantic community
needs to channel sufficient resources to invest in the future of African and
Latin American countries as the only way to ensure the stability of our
geographical space.
In my position as Minister Delegate for African Cooperation, I would like to
highlight Africa’s place in Atlantic dynamics. Today, Africa offers growing
opportunities for investors and has to play a central role in these Dynamics.
Let me remind you that several African countries are going through structural
changes amongst them good governance, democratisation process and
economic construction to ease private investment and embrace prosperity. To

3
put it frankly, Africa is the new frontier for development and growth. One third
of the top 20 countries in terms of GDP growth are in Africa after all.
In this regard, Morocco is more than ever committed to enable the emergence
of Africa, in line with the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. Being at a
cross-roads of various regional areas, The Kingdom is a gateway to the
continent and is playing an active role in anchoring Africa to Atlantic
dynamics.
As such, we are already carrying out tri-partite cooperation initiatives
involving inter alia the United States, France and China. We have to leverage
the existing expertise on all shores to materialise such cooperation.
Morocco, being also on the shore of the Mediterranean, we have contributed in
shaping the EuroMed partnership set up by the Barcelona Process that was
reinforced by the Union for the Mediterranean later on. Those initiatives have
definitely brought the two shores of the sea closer and helped develop free-
trade agreements with the European-Union.
We should leverage that process to promote African – Latin American
cooperation and create platforms of dialogue. Previously, we had tried a bi-
regional process, the Africa-South America conference – also known as the
ASA process - to bring together the southern shores. For now, the results didn’t
meet the expectations of the governments and populations implicated.
This is why, we need you to pave the way for the rapprochement of Atlantic
shores by making concrete proposals by imagining new mechanisms and
platforms of cooperation. Having in mind the upcoming Conference on South-
South Cooperation to be held in Argentina in March 2019. This session of
Atlantic Dialogues should take advantage that it gathers leaders, thinkers and
influencers to make concrete proposals prior to the conference.
Such collaboration between eminent thinkers and governments has proven to
be fruitful. For instance, the Global Forum For Migration and Development
paved the way for the adoption of Global Compact for Migration in Marrakech
earlier this week.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is only by redesigning, redefining the Atlantic dynamics that we will be able
to foster a sense of togetherness, create a strong community and shape our
common destiny.
Thank you for your attention.