After a first and rich stopover in Laâyoune, Christophe Lecourtier, French ambassador to Morocco, continues his visit to the Moroccan Sahara, the first in the region by a head of French diplomatic representation in the Kingdom. Tuesday November 12, 2024, the French diplomat arrived in Dakhla, now a leading economic and tourist destination.
Relaxed and draped for the occasion of a Sahrawi draïa, Christophe Lecourtier came accompanied by an impressive number of executives and department heads from the French embassy, in charge of economic, cultural, educational and development issues. This, in addition to around fifty businessmen being part of a prospecting and business mission carried out in parallel by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Morocco.
«All French public and private forces are here to take stock of the projects imagined by the region as part of the New Development Model for the Southern Provinces.», summarizes Christophe Lecourtier. For him, this visit comes at a particular moment in relations between Morocco and France, namely the clarification recently provided by the President of the Republic regarding the present and future of the Sahara, which is part of the the sovereignty of Morocco,and the essential character of the autonomy proposal as the only credible solution to the conflict».
Christophe Lecourtier, French ambassador to Morocco. (S.Bouaamoud/Le360)
«The President of the Republic also asked that we be able to quickly implement France’s desire to support Morocco as a whole, including these regions, in its economic and social development. It is for this reason that we are here», added the French ambassador.
Read also: Details of the visit to Laâyoune by Christophe Lecourtier, French ambassador to Morocco
The goal today is to know what role French state and private actors can take in it. “We are not starting from nothing since there are already very important French companies that are active. These include the Dakhla seawater desalination plant which is managed by Engie. It is also the city’s French school, which has existed for around ten years. On this basis, we want to build more projects. And there is matter», Explains the diplomat. The two platforms are also the subject of a field visit as part of this stopover.
President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, the very dynamic Khattat Yanja specifies that this visit is a first translation on the ground of France’s new position on the Sahara. “This in itself is a great victory», he notes. The idea is to set the framework but also to allow potential investors to seize the opportunities offered by the Kingdom in its southern regions. “Dakhla, which is experiencing phenomenal development and where a large part of the projects programmed within the framework of the New Development Model for the Southern Provinces have been completed, is a gold mine in this area.», Indicates the president of the region.
Tuesday in Laâyoune, Christophe Lecourtier had talks with Hamdi Ould Errachid, mayor of the city, with whom discussions focused on the prospects for bilateral cooperation in the economic, cultural and educational fields. The ambassador was also received by Abdeslam Bekrate, wali of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region. Christophe Lecourtier and the delegation accompanying him also took part in the first stage of the economic roadshow of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Morocco. As he visited the Paul Pascon school, an establishment managed by the International School and University Office (OSUI), an integral part of the network of French schools in Morocco.
