Mauritania Participates in Atlantic African States Process Ministerial Meeting
On 12 July, in Rabat, in the Kingdom of Morocco, Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Mauritanians Abroad, participated in the third ministerial meeting of the Atlantic African States Process (AASP).
The meeting reviewed the work of the three thematic groups created by the Rabat Declaration resulting from the first AASP meeting in 2022. The work of those groups covers the following topics: political dialogue and security, blue economy, maritime connectivity and energy, sustainable development, and the environment.
In his intervention on this occasion, the Minister stressed the need to focus on reaping the maximum benefit from the geopolitical space represented by the African interface of the Atlantic and to act decisively to meet the existing challenges, such as the growing threat of maritime piracy, terrorism, transnational organized crime, environmental challenges, and the food security crisis.
Below is the Minister’s speech:
“At the outset, it is my pleasure to express my sincere thanks and profound gratitude to my brother and friend, HE.Nasser Bourita, and, through him, to the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco, for the warm welcome and hospitality we received.
I also thank him for the kind invitation he extended to me to participate in the third AASP ministerial meeting.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The African facade of the Atlantic
is a geopolitical space with significant advantages, since its constituent countries represent 46% of the population of the African continent, source of 55% of Africa’s GDP, and represent 57% of continental trade, in more of its vast natural resources.
Based on this principle, it is incumbent on us to make our initiative a top priority to work resolutely to make the most of the advantages of this space that unites us and to strive to transform the challenges we face into valuable assets and opportunities for
the progress of our States and the achievement of common well-being.
These challenges are the crisis linked to the development model, the growing threat of maritime piracy, terrorism, transnational organized crime, environmental challenges, and the food security crisis.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, the President of the Republic, declared before the Dakar Forum held in November 2019 on issues of peace and security in Africa, “the world has become a unique global village in
which the major financial and economic issues are intimately linked to social, climatic, security, and other challenges, transcending geographical, social, and cultural borders”.
Only the ability to provide collective solutions to existing challenges and issues can remedy these situations and sustainably manage the multiple factors of transnational unrest in the world.
Hence the welcome of our country to this initiative which brings together the African countries bordering the Atlantic.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Program of Action presented today for approval takes into account our main strategic priorities cited in the Declaration issued in Rabat on 8 June 2022 for our first meeting.
It defines three main areas for us: political dialogue and security, blue economy, maritime and energy connectivity, sustainable and environmental development.
It also traces the path that we must take together to achieve the desired objectives in harmony and complementarity with other initiatives and with the efforts made here and there for the benefit of the African continent and for the benefit of stability and security in
the whole world.
Thank you “.