Closer ties with Morocco discussed

  • 2010-05-05
  • By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Morocco’s Prime Minister Abbas El Fass stressed that good relations between the two states can be enhanced even more than they currently are, mainly in three areas: tourism, information technology and energy. “Thanks to good political relations and the excellent experience of our businessmen in communicating with Morocco, interest towards cooperation has significantly increased recently,” said Ansip at a meeting with Abbas El Fass, head of Morocco’s government. Both prime ministers also recognized the good intergovernmental cooperation at the UN level.

Estonia’s investments in Morocco have increased significantly in recent years. This has been facilitated by an agreement on mutual protection of investments that was signed in September 2009, by the ministers of foreign affairs. Negotiations are currently underway to sign an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, which should serve to strengthen the economic relations between the two states even more.

At the meeting, possible cooperation in mining and using oil shale was also discussed. While Estonia’s energy dependence rate is 30 percent, which is one of the lowest in the European Union, Morocco imports 97 percent of its energy. According to Ansip, the use of oil shale has helped to increase Estonia’s energy security. He also expressed his pleasure that Eesti Energia has demonstrated its readiness to participate in Morocco’s oil shale programs. Namely, Morocco also has remarkable oil shale deposits, which have been explored with a view to producing oil-shale oil from them in order to improve the country’s energy security. Morocco’s oil shale deposits are estimated to total between 42 - 80 billion tons. “We are naturally ready to share our long-term experience with you,” confirmed Ansip.

The prime minister also introduced to his Moroccan counterpart the e-solutions, which are popular among Estonians, and confirmed that Estonians are discovering Morocco as a tourist destination for themselves. “Estonians have very warm feelings towards Morocco, because one of our most famous artists - Eduard Wiiralt - lived there,” said Ansip and also expressed a wish to mark the house in Marrakech where the artist lived and worked during one of the most productive periods in his life. The prime ministers also expressed their interest in developing cultural and educational relations between the two states, including cooperation between Moroccan and Estonian universities.

The last time the Estonian and Moroccan prime ministers met was at the funeral of the Polish president and his wife in Krakow. The last official meeting took place at the 2007 EU-Africa summit in Lisbon. Ansip also gave his Moroccan counterpart an invitation to visit Estonia and handed over the invitation of President Toomas Hendrik Ilves to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

Later, Ansip met with Amina Benkhadra, Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Mines, Water, and Environment, Ahmed Cham, Minister of Industry and New Technologies, and Minister of Foreign Trade Abdellatif Maazouz. Ansip also opened a business seminar in Casablanca aimed at Estonian and Moroccan businessmen. The prime minister was for the first time accompanied in Morocco by a business delegation.