Võ Văn Thưởng, Politburo member, Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee and head of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education (left) and Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani. — Photo tuoitre.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Moroccan Government wants to enhance cooperation with Việt Nam in various spheres and will make every effort to promote relations between the two governments, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani has said. 
PM Othmani made the remarks at a reception for Võ Văn Thưởng, Politburo member, Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and head of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, who visited the African country from June 13-17. 
He said the friendship and cooperation between Việt Nam and Morocco is a special and close relationship, which was fostered during the past struggles for national liberation of the two countries.  
The leader pointed out that the bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, investment and culture has yet to match the good political ties between the two countries as well as their potential. 
He suggested Việt Nan and Morocco promptly implement signed cooperation agreements, step up political consultations and all-level delegation exchanges and continue building mechanisms to create favourable conditions for stronger partnerships between their businesses. 
For his part, Thưởng reiterated the Vietnamese Party and State’s consistent policy of expanding its friendship and cooperation with all countries for peace and development in the region and the world. 
Việt Nam attaches importance to maintaining and developing relations with traditional friends, including Morocco – one of the country’s prioritized partners in North Africa, he stressed. 
He thanked the Moroccan PM and Government for their support for Việt Nam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021. 
Việt Nam is willing to work as a bridge to help Morocco expand its relations with other Southeast Asian nations, especially in the context that Việt Nam will take over the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020, the official said. 
Thưởng also expressed his hope for stronger cooperation with Morocco in all spheres, especially tourism, culture, clean energy and agriculture. 
He proposed the Moroccan PM and Government pay more attention to enhancing relations between localities of the two countries. 
On this occasion, Thưởng conveyed PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s invitation to his Moroccan counterpart to soon pay an official visit to Việt Nam. 
While in Morocco, Thưởng met with Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives Habib El Malki, during which he said the increased exchanges of high-ranking parliamentary delegations would help to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the future. 
He called on the Moroccan legislator to supervise and create favourable conditions for the implementation of cooperation agreements signed by the two governments. 
The Vietnamese and Moroccan legislatures should continue their coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the Inter-Parliamentary Union, he suggested. 
Thuong conveyed Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân’s invitation to the Speaker to pay an official visit to Việt Nam. 
In reply, Malki said the House of Representatives will join hands with the Moroccan Government to devise a mechanism monitoring cooperation activities between the two countries, while intensifying exchanges with the Việt Nam-Morocco Friendship Parliamentarians Group. 
With the closeness in history, politics and culture, Việt Nam and Morocco can expand their collaboration, he said. 
He called on Việt Nam to help Morocco boost ties with other Southeast Asian nations, saying Morocco hopes to soon become an observer of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. 
On June 17, Thuong had separate meetings with the President of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council and the Governor of Casablanca.
On June 14, he held talks with leaders of four parties in the Moroccan coalition government, who said they want to consolidate and enhance cooperation with the CPV, especially in Party building and theoretical research. 
The sides agreed to increase the exchange of all-level delegations and maintain the sharing of information and experience, cultural exchanges between youth and women organisations as well as people-to-people exchanges. 
Thuong invited leaders of the Moroccan parties to soon visit Việt Nam and have working sessions with the CPV. 
During a meeting with Moroccan Minister of Culture and Communications Mohamed Laarej on the same day, he suggested the two countries beef up bilateral collaboration in different realms, especially tourism, cinematography, press, literature and arts. 
The two sides agreed to soon organise cultural weeks in each country to increase mutual understanding between the Vietnamese and Moroccan people. — VNS