Morocco & India Sign MoU to Promote Cooperation in Mining and Geology

New Delhi – Morocco and India signed, Wednesday in New Delhi, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming at strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the fields of mining and geology.

Signed by minister of Energy, Mining and Sustainable Development, Aziz Rabbah, and Indian minister of Mining, Narendra Singh Tumar, the MoU covers the areas of geological infrastructure development, the production of geological, geophysical and geochemical maps, the strengthening of scientific research and the assessment of mineral resource potential.

The Memorandum also provides for the establishment of a joint commission to oversee its implementation and encourage the setting up of qualitative agreements between agencies, public and private institutions and companies of both countries in order to carry out bilateral cooperation projects and activities.

During his talks with his Indian counterpart, Rabbah, who is leading a Moroccan delegation to the 16th ministerial meeting of the International Energy Forum, expressed Morocco’s desire to build a strategic partnership in the field of phosphate with India, noting that the Kingdom aspires to establish more investment partnerships with countries such as India, Niger where Morocco has $ 3 billion worth of investments, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Ethiopia.

He added that Morocco is one of the most important phosphate producers with investments that will peak at $20 billion by 2025 through Morocco’s phosphate company (OCP group), which has launched twinning programs with Indian companies, highlighting the various investment opportunities in the Moroccan market that can be a business base for India.

For his part, Singh Tumar noted that India, which has great assets in the fields of mining and energy, allocates considerable funds to develop clean energy, considering that his country has broad experience in this area.

In this regard, he called for promoting relations between Morocco and India, expressing the Indian government’s willingness to share its expertise with the Kingdom through a bilateral cooperation commensurate with the existing partnership between the two countries.