AGADIR, April 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Morocco and Russia have a vast potential for closer cooperation in various areas, Russia’s Honorary Consul in the Moroccan city of Agadir, Abdellatif Abid, told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
“Political relations between Morocco and Russia are at an excellent level but they are developing much more vigorously than economic ties,” he said. “There are many areas where we can and should build up cooperation, for instance, in the areas of tourism, fishing, and farming.”
“Morocco needs Russian grain, timber and technology products,” he noted. “Russia imports Moroccan citrus fruits, fish products. To expand trade and economic cooperation, we must enliven contacts between ministries and parliaments of the two countries. Such contacts would help solve current problems and outline new priorities of cooperation.”
In January 2014, Abdellatif Abid was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship “for active contribution to strengthening the Russian-Moroccan relations.” “Of course, I am very glad and pleased but I regard this order not only as my own award but as an award to the entire Moroccan nation,” he noted. “This award will potentiate me to promote further strengthening of ties between Morocco and Russia in the interests of the peoples of both countries.”
“I know Russia and Russians well since the 1970s, when I came to Leningrad [now St. Petersburg] to study at the Polytechnic Institute,” Abid noted. “Ever since then, I have always had good relations with Russia and its people.”
Abid was appointed Russia’s Honorary Consul in Agadir, a major city in central coastal Morocco, in 2010.