During a meeting with the Wali of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region, governor of the province of Laâyoune, Abdeslam Bekrate, the members of the delegation, graduates of the 2023 class of the International Cycle of Training in Diplomacy, learned about the powers and competencies of the bodies and institutions located in the Moroccan regions in general and in the Southern provinces in particular.

On this occasion, Mr. Bekrate gave the diplomatic delegation an overview of the various stages that have marked the history of the Kingdom, from the colonial era to the present day, highlighting, in this context, the progress recorded by Morocco at all social, economic, political, democratic and Human Rights levels. This meeting was also an opportunity to present the achievements accomplished and the major development projects implemented in the Southern provinces of the Kingdom within the framework of the new development model launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in 2015 on the occasion of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the glorious Green March.

At the end of this meeting, the members of the delegation, composed of 12 diplomats from Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Guinea, the Central African Republic, the Comoros, Burkina Faso, the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Madagascar and Gabon, said they were impressed by the level of development that the city of Laâyoune is experiencing, stressing that this visit allowed them to see for themselves the progress that has been achieved in various fields.

They also praised the rich programme of the training session from which they benefited within the AMED and which is part of a partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, and a number of its counterparts from African countries, noting that it allowed them to deepen their knowledge in the diplomatic and consular field and their understanding of South-South cooperation and the multiple aspects of Moroccan culture.

In a statement to MAP, the Burkinabe diplomat, Kafando Toussaint, indicated that this visit follows the seven-month training session which was organised for the benefit of the members of the delegation at the AMED, noting that the visit to Laâyoune allowed them to learn about the level of development that the Southern provinces of Morocco are experiencing.

For her part, the diplomat Daouda Ali Mansoura from Nigeria, praised the quality of the training from which the members of the delegation benefited, noting that the visits they made to Rabat, Marrakech, Casablanca and Laâyoune allowed them to inquire about the significant level of development that Morocco is experiencing, expressing the wish that African countries could be inspired by the Kingdom's distinguished experience in terms of development within the framework of South-South cooperation.