ASEAN Grants Morocco the Status of “Sectoral Dialogue Partner” \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ (MAP) \ AP – Foreign Ministers of the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) granted Morocco, on Monday in Jakarta, the status of “Sectoral Dialogue Partner”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates said in a press release.
Morocco becomes the first North African country to obtain this status, thus consolidating its position as a privileged interlocutor of this geopolitical and economic grouping of great importance, the same source pointed out.
This status consolidates the vision of HM King Mohammed VI concerning the diversification of partnerships and its opening to new geopolitical blocks, underlines the press release, adding that it also constitutes a recognition by this grouping of the role of Morocco, under the leadership of the Sovereign, as a hub of stability in Africa and the Arab world and reflects the momentum of partnerships between Morocco and the countries of South East Asia.
The agreement in principle for granting the status of “Sectoral Dialogue Partner” to Morocco was announced during the 56th Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, held on July 11 and 12, 2023 in Jakarta.
During that meeting, the same status was granted to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, ASEAN has a principle of non-interference in each member state’s domestic affairs. It also decides by consensus, meaning even one member can shoot down any unfavorable decision or proposal.
Those bedrock rules have attracted a starkly diverse membership, ranging from nascent democracies to conservative monarchies, but have also restrained the bloc from taking punitive actions against state-sanctioned atrocities.
The bloc currently groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
