The Summit of the Two Shores, which kicked off Monday in France’s southern port city of Marseille, has endorsed 272 Mediterranean development projects including 24 proposals from Morocco.
The Summit is part of the 5+5 Dialogue, which brings together five states from the southern shore of the Mediterranean (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia) and five states from the northern shore (France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain).
The European Union and Germany as well as pan-Mediterranean organizations and international economic organizations present in the region are involved in this initiative.
The Summit of the Two Shores is based on the idea that civil society must be fully involved in defining a new and positive agenda for the Mediterranean region. It aims to relaunch the cooperation dynamism in the Western Mediterranean by activating tangible projects that benefit human development and sustainable development in the region.
Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita commended, in his inaugural speech, the stature granted to civil society, which has prepared for the summit through four months of continuous work that enabled 100 Non-Governmental Organizations of participating countries to get introduced and work together.
The Moroccan minister added that this was a chance to discover the potentials and capabilities of the Mediterranean civil society, noting that Morocco has participated with 10 NGOs led by Asia Saleh Al Alawi, expressing pride in their contribution in preparing for the conference.
Bourita also hailed the openness of the summit to funding parties and financial institutions, saying that speaking about projects isn’t possible without triggering funding.
Whilst preparing for the summit, five regional forums were held on energy, youths, education, transportation, economy, competitiveness, culture, media, tourism, and sustainable development.
The conference was concluded with a speech delivered by French President Emmanuel Macron and the adoption of the Marseille statement.
