KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- The bilateral ties between Malaysia and Morocco are excellent at political, economic, and cultural levels, characterised by mutual respect, said the Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of Morocco in Malaysia, Mohammed Saidi.
He noted that given both countries' tremendous assets and capacities, efforts should be made to upgrade the relations to cover more fields and with a stronger determination to achieve their objectives.
“My conviction is that geographical distance should not hinder our attempts to do so, as long as the political will to open up new horizons in our bilateral relations has been expressed openly by officials from both countries on several occasions,” said Saidi.
He made these remarks during the reception for the 25th Anniversary of the Enthronement of His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, held here on Tuesday.
Saidi also expressed optimism for stronger Malaysia-Morocco bilateral relations, especially under Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship next year, during which Morocco enjoys Sectoral Dialogue Partner (SDP) status.
Deputy Minister of Works Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan represented the Malaysian government at the reception.
Other dignitaries at the event include Tengku Laksamana Selangor Tengku Sulaiman Shah, Tunku Mariam Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj and Tunku Puteri Datuk Seri Jawahir Tuanku Ja’afar.
In an earlier report, Bernama noted that Malaysia and Morocco established diplomatic relations in 1963, with the Embassy of Malaysia in Rabat established in 1966.
The embassy was initially set up at the level of Chargé d'Affaires before being upgraded to the Ambassadorial level in 1989. Morocco established its embassy in Kuala Lumpur in 1988.
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) on its web page https://oec.world over the past five years, Morocco's exports to Malaysia have increased at an annualised rate of 90.4 per cent to US$25.3 million in 2022 from US$1.01 million in 2017.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s exports to Morocco have increased at an annualised rate of 33 per cent to US$109 million in 2022 from US$26.3 million in 2017.
-- BERNAMA
