Morocco and Spain boost the mining sector

Morocco and Spain continue to strengthen trade relations in a climate of total diplomatic understanding. The ties between the two Mediterranean allies and neighbours are strong and this is demonstrated by the ongoing cooperation at all levels, including political and economic.

Spain took an important step with the recognition of Morocco's proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara as the 'most serious, credible and realistic' option to resolve the Sahrawi dispute, which has lasted for more than four decades, and from there, the relationship has been further strengthened. 

Following this move by Pedro Sánchez's government in March 2022, the King of Morocco himself, Mohammed VI, invited the president of the Spanish government to an important meeting in Rabat at which the road map was drawn up for the two nations to follow in their mutual relationship. One of the most important episodes in this planning was the High Level Meeting between Pedro Sánchez himself and Aziz Akhannouch, head of the Moroccan government, in the Rabat capital in February 2023, which served to seal many important agreements in various economic and political matters and areas. 

One of these sectors is mining, and Morocco and Spain are also cooperating in this field within the framework of strengthening their trade relations.

In this scenario, the city of Marrakech was the chosen venue for the Morocco-Spain Mining Forum, a bilateral meeting on the European Union's Raw Materials Alliance in Morocco. 

Important players in the mining sector met in the Moroccan city to strengthen relations between different parties and exchange experiences and possibilities for expanding trade flows. 

The meeting was organised by the Federation of the Moroccan Mining Industry (FDIM), the Association of Research, Extraction, Mining-Metallurgical, Auxiliary and Service Transformation Companies (Aminer), the Business Agency for Transformation and Economic Development (Andalucía Trade), the Iberian Sustainable Mining Cluster (ISMC), the International Centre for Raw Materials and Advanced Materials of Castilla y León (ICAMCyL Foundation) and MINE. THE.GAP, the project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 call, as reported by various media such as the Europa Press agency or Interempresas. 

The economic relationship between Spain and Morocco is very important for the development of both nations in various fields. The North African country is also an important market for the European Union, with which it has several important agreements in different areas.

In this sense, at the event in Marrakech, Santiago Cuesta-López, executive general director of the ISMC Cluster and the ICAMCyL Foundation, has left a clear message: "We have a social and environmental responsibility to ensure the supply of raw materials in a sustainable way to Europe and its industry, strategic alliances with producer countries neighbouring the EU such as Morocco will be key to meet the objectives of the EU pact for critical raw materials".

On the relations between the mining sector in Morocco and Spain, Marta Cerati, executive manager of Aminer, highlighted the good relationship between Morocco and Spain with "common interests and objectives, the same challenges and many shared projects". In addition, Cerati remarked that they represent "an industry in continuous growth, which is committed to research and innovation in order to be increasingly efficient and respectful of the environment", as reported by the Europa Press agency. 

All of this at an event such as Marrakech, which is very important for detecting business and investment opportunities in the mining sector, which is very important for Morocco, Spain and the European Union.