Morocco and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are seeking to take their partnership to a new level by accelerating its implementation and promoting more concrete cooperation focused on high-impact projects.
This ambition was expressed Monday in Jakarta during the presentation of the credentials of Morocco’s new Ambassador to ASEAN, Redouane Houssaini, to ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.
On the occasion, the ASEAN Secretary-General welcomed the positive momentum in relations with the Kingdom, commending His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s commitment to strengthening Morocco’s ties with Southeast Asia.
Kao Kim Hourn reaffirmed his readiness to work with Morocco to deepen the sectoral dialogue partnership and fully harness its potential. He stressed in particular the importance of continuing to implement the ASEAN-Morocco Practical Cooperation Areas for 2024-2028.
The ASEAN official also underlined the need to intensify Morocco’s engagement with the organization’s various sectoral bodies, with a view to translating the institutional framework established between the two sides into concrete and mutually beneficial actions.
For his part, Redouane Houssaini reaffirmed Morocco’s determination, in line with the High Royal Directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to give fresh impetus to this partnership and promote results-oriented cooperation.
The priorities identified include trade and investment, food security, sustainable agriculture, fertilizers, renewable energy, connectivity, the digital economy, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
The new ambassador also highlighted Morocco’s potential role as a bridge between Southeast Asia and Africa, leveraging its geostrategic position, infrastructure and deep-rooted African ties.
In this regard, triangular ASEAN-Morocco-Africa cooperation offers significant prospects in areas such as trade, investment and development, by capitalizing on the complementarities between the three regions.
The discussions also highlighted convergence around several principles, including a commitment to dialogue, moderation, respect for the sovereignty of States and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
The rapprochement is part of an institutional process that has been underway for several years. Morocco acceded in 2016 to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, before obtaining sectoral dialogue partner status with ASEAN in September 2023, becoming the first North African country to benefit from this status.
The two sides subsequently adopted the ASEAN-Morocco Practical Cooperation Areas for 2024-2028, aimed at giving an operational dimension to their partnership.
The next challenge is now to accelerate the translation of this institutional framework into concrete achievements by developing economic exchanges, expanding joint projects and making greater use of the complementarities between Morocco, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Established in 1967, ASEAN comprises eleven Southeast Asian countries and represents a market of more than 680 million consumers. With a combined gross domestic product of around $4 trillion in 2024, the organization is one of the world’s major economic growth hubs.
The strengthening of the partnership also comes amid the consolidation of Morocco’s diplomatic network in Southeast Asia. Seven ASEAN member states currently maintain diplomatic representations in the Kingdom, providing an additional foundation for expanding political, economic and people-to-people exchanges.
