Cooperation between the Souss-Massa-Drâa region and the regions of France continues to strengthen. Thus, the SMD and Aquitaine have recently boosted their cooperation. At the heart of the new convention, signed recently, are new axes promulgated for the 2013-2015 period. The first point of cooperation announced is focused on institutional support. The two regions will work, in this section, on actions that aim, initially, at the structuring of the communication service as well as the establishment of better identification of the region. This being said, accompaniment work for the Moroccan community will be carried out in order to guarantee a communication approach around local products. The structuring of handicraft sectors constitutes the second axis of cooperation between the two regions. In this sense, the said convention stipulates the establishment of accompaniment actions whose goal is to structure the sectors of this industry and to develop the identity and cultural aspect of the SMD region. As for the third pillar, it focuses on the field of the environment and renewable energies. To do this, operations aiming at the accompaniment of the establishment of the Regional Observatory of the Environment of the SMD will be carried out, and more precisely in the field of air quality monitoring. Furthermore, the fourth axis of this new 2013/2015 convention is dedicated to university cooperation. Let us note that the two partners will aim to strengthen university ties between Aquitaine and the SMD by accompanying the multidisciplinary faculty of Taroudant in the creation of new professional licences.

Both parties commit, furthermore, to facilitating the participation of local actors in the various regional events (fairs, festivals, etc.) organised by the partner region as well as to boosting contacts between economic operators, notably in terms of the environment and renewable energies. The financing of the various actions, pre-established in this convention, will be done jointly. As a result, funding may be obtained in part from the Aquitaine region, within the framework and limit of the funds dedicated within the budget, as well as from financial partners in the form of co-financing. Furthermore, and in order to guarantee good monitoring of the actions stipulated in this convention, a steering committee associating the presidents of the two regions is set up as well as technical coordination commissions by intervention axis. As a reminder, cooperation between the two regions began in 2002. It resulted in the signing of a first framework cooperation convention for the 2002-2004 period. The two regions have worked since then on several axes of cooperation and development. Let us cite in this framework the establishment of the Decentralisation Support Programme (PAD). This project, which had as its objective the valorisation of local products, notably through the establishment of the GI (Geographical Indications), applied to argan oil, earned the two regions the status of laureates of a "Morocco" call for proposals from the European Union.