Khalid Mejdoub and Mohammad Sio
31 January 2025•Update: 31 January 2025
RABAT, Morocco
Morocco and Yemen signed seven agreements and memorandums of understanding on Friday to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to Morocco’s Foreign Ministry.
The agreements were signed during the sixth session of the Joint Committee between the two countries, held in Rabat and co-chaired by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Yemeni counterpart, Shayea Mohsen Al-Zindani, as part of an official visit to Morocco of unspecified duration.
Among the signed agreements was a deal for mutual recognition of driver's licenses and an executive agreement on vocational training. Additionally, the two sides signed a program for cooperation in higher education and scientific research for 2025-2027, according to the ministry’s statement.
The memorandums of understanding covered cooperation in water resources management, technical collaboration in road and port infrastructure, enhanced activities in meteorology and climate science, and vocational training.
Both parties expressed satisfaction with the state of their bilateral relations and the positive progress made, affirming their commitment to strengthening ties and expanding cooperation to meet the aspirations of their peoples, the statement said.
Diplomatic relations between Morocco and Yemen deepened after the two countries upgraded their representation to embassy level. Yemen opened its embassy in Rabat in 1978, and in 1982, both nations agreed to appoint resident ambassadors. Morocco established its embassy in Sanaa in 1984.
The Morocco-Yemen Joint Committee has convened six times: the first in Rabat in 1992, the second in Sanaa in 1997, the third in Rabat in 1999, the fourth in Sanaa in 2001, the fifth in Rabat in 2022, and the sixth in 2025, according to the Yemeni Embassy in Rabat.
Following the session, Bourita reaffirmed Morocco’s support for the Presidential Leadership Council as Yemen’s legitimate authority during a press conference with Al-Zindani, according to the Moroccan news agency MAP.
Bourita stressed that resolving Yemen’s crisis requires a lasting political solution that safeguards the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the outcomes of Yemen’s National Dialogue Conference.
He reiterated Morocco’s willingness to contribute to any international efforts aimed at aiding Yemen’s government in addressing its humanitarian challenges.
Yemen has experienced relative calm since April 2022 after more than a decade of war between government forces and the Houthis, who have controlled key provinces, including the capital, Sanaa, since Sept. 21, 2014.
