Spanish Prime Minister’s Visit to Nouakchott reflects our Country’s Standing Abroad

The relationship between Mauritania and the Kingdom of Spain is authentic and deep-rooted, and varies and expands every time, said the Minister of Culture, Arts, Communication and Relations with Parliament, Government Spokesman, Houssein Ould Medou, noting that the visit of the Spanish Prime Minister to Nouakchott over the past two days reflects the strength of these relations, culminating in the signing of agreements on circular migration and the fight against organized crime, and before that agreements were signed on combating irregular migration, employment and refugee support.

This came in response to a question about Mauritanian-Spanish relations, while commenting on the results of the cabinet meeting Thursday evening in Nouakchott accompanied by the ministers of higher education and scientific research, digital transformation and modernization of administration, adding that the visit of the Spanish prime minister to Mauritania reflects the country’s position abroad, whether with neighboring countries or at the Arab, African or European levels.

Regarding the visit of the Libyan official yesterday to Nouakchott, the government spokesman said that Mauritania is committed to the international position towards Libya, which is the recognition of the Government of National Unity in Tripoli, noting that the visit of the Libyan official was at his request within the framework of the mediation carried out by His Excellency the President of the Republic, Chairman of the African Union and as a member of the Higher Committee to address the Libyan problem.

This step is also part of Mauritania’s policy to resolve the crises of African countries, he said.

For his part, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mr. Yacoub Ould Moine, said that the platform opened by the ministry on Monday to register successful students in this year’s baccalaureate has so far registered 45% of those more than 17,000, stressing that the platform took into account the quantitative and qualitative dimension in guiding students.

He spoke about the reasons that led the government not to grant baccalaureate students this year, indicating that the sector was able to achieve sufficiency in the first cycle of education, by increasing the absorption of higher education institutions and opening new specializations, stressing that scholarships for the doctoral and master’s stages will continue.

The Minister explained that the state used to grant 167 students annually who hold a baccalaureate degree, i.e. 1.5%, forty percent of whom go to medicine, while the rest obtain an intermediate training that is better than it locally, as the College of Medicine increased its capacity to more than 400 students, and the capacity of quality institutions such as the Institute of Digitization and the School of Business increased.

For his part, the Minister of Digital Transformation and Modernization of Administration, Mr. Ahmed Salem Bede Etvagha, commented on the statement on linking the border areas in the south and southeast of the country to communication networks within the five-year strategy for access to electronic services, stressing that this project will have a significant impact on the provision of communication service, as well as its sovereign dimension.

He added that the project will be achieved through the provision of communication networks in border areas in a competitive manner, especially those that have not yet been reached by the network provision project, such as the area between Ould Yenge and N’Beykat Lahwach, stressing that the project will be completed within a year, and the tender will be opened to companies working in the field.

He stressed that the ministry diagnosed the reality of the quality of communication services in the country thanks to modern technologies, and indicated that some areas where this service is absent, and obligated telecommunications companies to improve services in those areas, especially border ones.

He pointed out that the digitization and modernization of the administration occupies a paramount position for His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, but this can only be achieved through the quality of communication, which is still lacking.

During a meeting held yesterday at the Prime Ministry, Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Diay gave orders to improve communication service and formed a ministerial committee for this purpose under his chairmanship.