BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, January 13th, 2017 (PRESS OFFICE) — The governments of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Kingdom of Morocco have signaled their intent to work even closer together in a number of areas that will redound to the benefit of the citizens and residents of both countries.
This was expressed on Thursday, January 12th, 2017, when Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Morocco, His Excellency Dr. Abderrahim Kadmiri met with Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris during a courtesy call.
St. Kitts and Nevis granted agrément to his His Excellency Dr. Kadmiri as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the of His Majesty the King Mohamed VI to St. Kitts and Nevis in February 2016.
On Friday, January 13th, 2017, Dr. Kadmiri presented his credentials to the Governor General, His Excellency Tapley Seaton G.C.M.G., C.V.O., J.P., after which he met with the Federation’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Mark Brantley.
During the brief meeting with the Prime Minister, H.E. Dr. Kadmiri pledged his country’s continued partnership with St. Kitts and Nevis, particularly in the field of agriculture.
He said, “Morocco is paying very special attention to your beloved country and we are focused a lot in terms of cooperation. Our attention is focused especially on very specific fields like agri (agriculture), education, among others. Morocco of course has been doing a lot in order to facilitate the duty of your local farmers by granting St. Kitts and Nevis very important and subsequent quantity of fertilizers yearly and I seize the opportunity of meeting you today just to inform that the expedition of this year, 2017, already departed from Morocco and it will reach St. Kitts and Nevis by the 13th of February.”
St. Kitts and Nevis established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Morocco in 2007, when Dr. Harris served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and therefore “would have been at the fulcrum of the discussions that led to the eventual signing of our bilateral cooperations in the margins of the UN.”
Now, as Prime Minister of the twin-island Federation, Dr. Harris thanked the government of the Kingdom of Morocco for its assistance over the years. He also expressed the intention of his administration to broaden the areas of cooperation between both countries “and in that regard, the MOU of understanding that has been signed would have spelt out a number of areas including agriculture, scholarships and cultural areas.”
In April 2016, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Federation signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the political consultations mechanism between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Aviation in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Honourable Prime Minister also used the meeting to impress upon the visiting Ambassador, who will be stationed in St. Lucia, the need for closer collaboration in the field of public safety and security, not just locally, but at the regional level as well.
“You are aware, coming from or living in St. Lucia, that the issue of public safety and security is a serious one within the region. We have had a number of violent circumstances developed in St. Lucia in recent times that have made regional headlines. What has happened in St. Lucia is not unique. Throughout the Caribbean region, from Jamaica and Bahamas in the north to Trinidad and Guyana in the south and us in the north-east, we have seen violent crimes in the society and we therefore have to find a holistic approach to them,” Prime Minister Harris said.
“Some of the things in which we will seek training for will allow us to have the man power to provide the counseling and support to our young people and at least to, in other ways, empower other young people who can become focal points for intervention to those who somehow feel not as strongly connected to the society and therefore are not being constructive builders. So at another occasion, as we discuss these regionally, I believe that this is an initiative that will come to your government for regional collaboration at the level of the OECS and I wanted to sensitize you of that particular need.”
Other possible areas of cooperation between both countries highlighted during the meeting were in the field of technology, forensic support in the area of crime and the provision of appropriate vehicles suited for law enforcement personnel.
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