Japanese diplomat Takashi Shinozuka commended, on November 7, the “eminently Atlantic and African” dimension of the speech delivered by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to the Nation on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the Green March.
In a statement to Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP), the former Japanese ambassador to Morocco stated that “the Royal speech illustrated the Sovereign’s vision and high-mindedness,” stressing that the speech is characterized by a distinguished Atlantic and African prospect aimed at connecting the countries of the Sahel and providing them a gate to the Atlantic, and all the socio-economic and human implications this entails.
“In Japan, we are following with great interest the development of the ambitious Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project mentioned by His Majesty,” said the Japanese diplomat, recalling that the Japan-Morocco association presented the project at a symposium last January attended by the ambassadors of Morocco, Nigeria, and Ghana in Japan.
Shinozuka also recalled that the presentation was welcomed “with a great deal of admiration and interest” in this vast project, which will have major results in terms of development and economic prosperity throughout the West African region.
In His speech delivered on the evening of November 6, His Majesty King Mohammed VI expressed His “hope that the Atlantic seaboard will evolve into a place of human communion, a hub of economic integration, and a center of continental and international influence”.
“The solution to the difficulties and problems facing the brotherly states of the Sahel cannot be exclusively based on security or military measures but must be based on an approach of cooperation and joint development,” underlined His Majesty the King, noting that the Morocco-Nigeria strategic gas pipeline project is a lever for regional integration, aimed at establishing the conditions for a common economic take-off and sparking a dynamic conducive to the development of the Atlantic band.
