Concluded on the sidelines of the 8th conference of Rome MED – Mediterranean Dialogue, the MoU was initialed by the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, and her Italian counterpart, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, in the presence of the Ambassador of the Kingdom in Rome, Youssef Balla.
This memorandum is a new opportunity to strengthen the cooperation actions carried out jointly with Italy for several decades, Benali told MAP, noting that this MoU will allow the implementation of joint projects and programs, promoting capacity building, technology transfer and technical assistance, as well as the development of Public Private Partnership.
For his part, the Italian Minister welcomed the Moroccan-Italian cooperation in various fields, in this case energy, expressing his willingness to raise it to the highest level.
This new agreement is of great importance for the Mediterranean region, intended to become the energy “hub” of Europe, said Mr. Fratin, stressing the need to unify efforts to jointly address climate and energy challenges.
Cooperation will focus, in particular, on climate change and the implementation of the National Determined Contributions (NDC), biodiversity protection, integrated coastal zone management, prevention and reduction of marine oil pollution, sustainable and integrated management of water resources, as well as the energy transition and renewable energy.
This MoU comes as a continuation of the Technical Arrangement, signed in 2016 between Morocco and Italy, which constituted the first framework for bilateral cooperation on environment and sustainable development.
