Morocco participates in economic seminar with Israel and Bahrain

Morocco is participating with Israel and Bahrain in a forum on economic freedom being held this week in the United Arab Emirates as part of the Friedberg Economic Institute's fellowship programme under the theme "Economy, Growth and Prosperity".

The event, which will also be attended by Emirati students, comes on the eve of the third anniversary of the Abraham Accords, one of the most important historic events in the region in recent years. The so-called 'Accord of the Century' has profoundly transformed the Middle East, bringing great economic, commercial, cultural and diplomatic benefits to the countries involved. This forum will serve to analyse the economic partnership of the participating nations and deepen that cooperation.  

This is the second time this event has been held. The first time, in the words of Bob Borens, director of the Friedberg Economic Institute (FEI), "was a great success". "Arab and Israeli students established bonds and friendships," Borens told The Jerusalem Post. According to the EIF director, "everyone was pleasantly surprised and wanted to come back".

As Borens himself recounted, the FEI was founded in 2013 with the aim of "providing a platform to educate Israelis about the nature and benefits of economic freedom", an "important" aspect, since, according to Borens, "data shows that countries that follow these principles have the best economic performance".

Initially, the FEI focused on training and educating Israeli university students, but after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the Institute decided to organise another seminar with students from the signatory countries. 

"These principles are equally relevant in all countries, regardless of their political systems, religion or culture," Borens told the Israeli newspaper. Therefore, the current seminar is intended to highlight "how economic freedom can serve as a common denominator and common interest among all the countries of the Abraham Accords". "This means that each year the seminar will be held in a different nation," he adds.

In order to analyse the role and impact of this seminar in Morocco, L'Opinion has benefited from the views of Einat Levi, a researcher at the Mitvim Institute for Regional Foreign Policy in Israel and an expert on Israeli-Moroccan relations. According to Levi, this forum can help the Kingdom 'improve its understanding of the evolution of regional economic issues, as well as the different agendas and mentalities of the other countries involved, allowing it to adjust its strategic approach and keep it up to date'. 

Morocco will also be able to put forward its own point of view on the issues to be addressed, highlighting its value and potential as a hub for Africa because of its human capital and other advantages such as stability, well-developed connectivity and international openness.

Levi recognises that the prospects for economic growth in the MENA region have been limited by the lack of regional integration and cooperation. However, thanks to the Abraham Accords, a new regional economic regime can be achieved that would allow the region to unite its efforts and cooperate to address local and global challenges. "If we can focus on this point, we will be able to discover what our region is really capable of," she told the Moroccan media.