Second Forum on the Sudanese-Moroccan Relations … A Drive for Reinforcing Bilateral Relations
30 January, 2014Khartoum, (Sudanow) - Professor Yusuf Fadul of the University of Khartoum, speaking in a lecture he recently delivered at the African Studies Institute of Mohamed Fifth University in Rabat, described as “great and manifold” the Moroccan presence in the Sudan, remarking that this might have prompted some Sudanese experts in ethnic origins into regarding them as a single tribal entity calling them the Magharbah (Moroccans) tribe.
Professor Fadul said it was the Moroccan travelers to the region who called it the Sudan of the Nile Valley and recorded their impressions and remarks on it and on the Moroccan migrations to it.
Those migrations resulted in a significant Moroccan presence in the Sudan, Said Dr. Fadul, noting that the Moroccan scholars had a role in dissemination of the Islamic Maliki Creed which has become a factor of contact between the two regions and also in dissemination of the Koranic science, recitation and intonation.
Yet the closest liaison between the two regions was through the spread of the Sufi sects in addition to the movements by the scholars and Muslim sheikhs between the two regions.
In a paper he presented at forum titled “In Support of the Parallel Diplomacy in the Moroccan-Sudanese Relations”, Dr. Mohamed al-Sufi, of the University of Mohamed Fifth, has meanwhile said the Moroccans, about a million in number, are spread over 36 Sudanese villages north of Managil and other regions. They migrated from various parts of Morocco, especially from Fez region.
Based on this historic relationship, the Second Forum on the Sudanese-Moroccan Relations was held in Khartoum’s Friendship Hall on January 21-22, organized by the Knowledge Pillars Institute for Studies and Research in collaboration with the National Authority for Investment, the Association of the Sudanese graduates of Moroccan universities and institutes and the Sudanese Businessmen Union. It dealt with political, economic, cultural and social issues with concentration of the bilateral economic relations beside the issues of investment. The participants discussed 13 papers presented by a number of politicians, scholars and experts.
A paper on the role of the people’s diplomacy in enhancing liaison between the two peoples which was presented by Kamal Humaidah called for reactivation of the peoples’ relations through peoples’ friendship associations in the two countries.
Humaidah underlined contribution by the people’s diplomacy to strengthening the political and economic bonds between the two countries. This is conducted through the people’s diplomatic mechanisms and means, including the Sufi and religious sects bolstered by the musical, theatrical and sports folklore arts.
Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Abdul Ghafar, in his paper headed “the Sudanese-Moroccan Cultural Relations”, said a number of cultural festivals were organized by the two countries, particularly during the past decade, the most recent of which was in early 2013. Moroccan cultural institutions, such as the National Library and Mohamed Fifth Theatre, take part in the cultural festivals.
On the economic side, Dr. Mustafa Sharfi, of Mohamed Fifth University, said in a paper titled “the Economy of Knowledge and Development in North Africa”, in order to engender the concept of the knowledge economy, a transition must be made from the cultural principles to the economic activities at the level of the institutions.
This, he went on, requires adoption of new ideas about the demands of the knowledge economics by re-devising several activities and tasks in response to the demands of knowledge economy and adaptation with the new environment by the incessant promotion of education and obtaining knowledge through modern advanced methods and encouraging and supporting innovation and creativity for achieving coordination and connection between the knowledge and technology.
Dr. Kendy Yusuf, in a paper named “stimulants of the economic partnership between the Sudan and Morocco”, called for boosting the bilateral relations so as to benefit from the resources of the two countries for engendering a bilateral economic integration in addition to activating commercial exchange, encouraging mutual investment beside formation of a joint businesses council and a joint committee to follow up implementation and development of the agreements and memoranda of understanding concluded in the fields of trade and investment.
This paper placed emphasis on the Moroccan investments in industries which achieve the added value and stepped up competitiveness of the Sudanese products, especially with regards to textiles, leather and food industries counting on the Moroccan markets. The paper also called for benefitting from Moroccan alternative energy experience.
A paper on “Tourism in the Sudan- the Reality and Ambitions” that was presented by Mudasir Abbas, has called for reopening and expanding the foreign offices of tourism marketing and promotion and instructing the concerned ministries and media institutions to provide the infrastructures to facilitate access to the touristic attractions (roads, water, electricity).
This paper stressed the need for implementation of the comprehensive tourist survey programme so as to determine the country’s resources of tourism, draw the map of investment, design the projects and prepare feasibility studies on the tourist regions besides providing airstrips in those regions.
A paper on “the elements of the Sudanese-Moroccan economic partnership” by Abdul Salam al-Gadi commended the Moroccan investments by the Moroccan Katibah Group which operates in food industries in North Africa and invests in the animal production in Sudan by establishing large farms for production of cattle, fodder, sheep and poultry of all kinds.
Gadi also made reference to the Moroccan Oanah Group which also operates in the animal production. He commended the efforts by the Moroccans for reactivating the bilateral investment cooperation.
The paper called for benefitting from such economic groups as the Sahel and Sahara and the Arab Free Zone so as to establish economic partnerships between the two countries, besides concluding free agreements in the pattern of those concluded with some come countries (Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan)to cover fields not included by the old agreements, in accordance with the latest economic developments.
Dr. Hassan Ramu, a lecturer in the Mohamed Fifth University, in his paper “the Moroccan Experience…Decades-Old”, pointed out that the tourist investment has become a kiblah, particularly for the Gulf tourist projects as a result of exchanging experience in this field with the African and Arab countries.
Dr. Ramu, who is also a researcher in the African Studies Institute, said the Moroccan tourist experience is pioneer in the Arab world, North Africa and the Sahel states. he said it has scored significant figures on the social and economic levels due to its intimate connection with the global developments and its long tourist history.
End
mas/mo
Photo of the Week
Everybody alive today came from one African country (The Independent) Ariana Baio Khartoum, Jan.1 (Sudanow)-It is well known that all humans alive today can be traced back to a common ancestor but a study may have found where that ancestor originates. Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute mapped the entirety of genetic relationships among humans t...
More-
01 January, 2023
Phone battery killed nine persons, injured twelve
Zalingei, Jan.1 (Sudanow) - A dispute over a phone battery, in Marin Market, Central Darfur, led to the killing of nine persons and injuring of another twelve. The Director of Central Darfur Police, Salah Omar Al-Tayeb told SUNA last Thursday that main reasons behind the events in Zalingei began with a dispute over a phone battery, where one of the citizens stabbed to death. The police official added that the police forces moved to th...
Contact Us
Address: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) Building, Jamhoria Street, Khartoum - Sudan
Mobile:+249 909220011 / +249 912307547