The proceedings of the 3rd Forum of Cities Friendly and Twinned with Fes, initiated under the theme "The city of Fes, a global tourist destination", opened on Thursday in Fes with the participation of a host of delegations from European, Asian, African, and Arab and Islamic world cities.
Organised by the city's urban commune, this event aims to strengthen decentralised international cooperation between cities friendly and twinned with Fes and to debate numerous pioneering experiences in terms of tourist attractiveness.
Speaking at the opening of this meeting, the president of the urban commune of the city of Fes, Hamid Chabat, recalled the historical importance of the spiritual capital and its rich cultural heritage, stressing that decentralised international cooperation has now become an essential component of the commune's territorial strategy.
The Idrissid City has been able, over the last fifty years, to weave a wide network of cooperation, partnership, and twinning relations with numerous cities in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and to join active international organisations, he added, noting that the urban commune aims, through this relational network, to highlight Morocco's leadership role in terms of cultural blending and coexistence between religions and peoples.
Evoking the theme debated during this meeting, Chabat noted that the tourism sector, as an essential lever for local socio-economic development, has experienced a qualitative leap in recent years.
The city of Fes has become a global tourist destination thanks to its multiple cultural and historical assets, continued Chabat, noting that this forum aims to establish solid foundations for multilateral cooperation around issues of common interest.
For his part, the president of the municipal council of Medina in Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Nasser Ben Mahmoud, emphasised the importance of this forum intended to consolidate partnership and cooperation relations with cities friendly and twinned with Fes, while highlighting the pioneering experience adopted by the Commune of Medina in the preservation and protection of cultural heritage. The mayor of the city of Bamako in Mali, Adama Sangare, for his part, highlighted the privileged relations between Morocco and Mali, recalling in this context the "invaluable support of the Kingdom of Morocco towards his country".
Sangare also drew up an overview of Bamako while highlighting the cultural influence of the city of Fes and its tourist attractiveness.
This two-day forum, which is in line with the city council's vision aimed at weaving and strengthening cooperation and partnership relations with friendly cities and examining ways to boost the tourist competitiveness of the spiritual capital, was marked by the presentation of several pioneering experiences in tourism and the conclusion of partnership agreements.
On the sidelines of the Forum, the delegations present will carry out guided tours of certain historical monuments of the Medina of Fes before taking part in the inaugural evening of the 21st edition of the Festival of World Sacred Music, scheduled for Friday at the prestigious Bab El Makina square.
The previous edition of the Forum of Cities Friendly and Twinned with Fes was initiated around the theme "city management and the importance of participatory democracy".
