Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev and her Moroccan counterpart, Mohamed Abdel Jali, signed three transportation agreements to improve transportation, economic and social relations between the two countries, in a ceremony held Monday morning in Rabat.
לפני מספר דקות חתמתי על הסכמי תחבורה עם שר התחבורה המרוקאי במסגרת הביקור הרשמי שלי במרוקו.
זהו ביקור ראשון של שר/ת תחבורה ישראלי אשר מבקר במרוקו.כמו כן סיכמנו על הקמת צוותי עבודה משותפים בין המדינות בתחומי התחבורה השונים. pic.twitter.com/p2TpmduI5I
— מירי רגב (@regev_miri) May 29, 2023
The first agreement enables visiting and/or working Israelis and those residing in Morocco to use their Israeli driver’s licenses in the North African nation, and to convert their license to an equivalent Moroccan license without the need for a theoretical and practical driving test.
Likewise, those who hold a Moroccan driver’s license will be able to drive with their license in Israel, and if they wish, to convert it to an Israeli driver’s license, without the need for exams.
“Mutual recognition of driver’s licenses will contribute to the strengthening of tourism and business relations between the countries, and to deepening the acquaintance with the Moroccan people, whose generation of our parents and grandparents still remembers the life of friendship and good neighborliness by their side,” said Shai Cohen, head of the Israeli mission to Morocco.
The second agreement focuses on shipping; it encourages direct connections between Israeli and Moroccan seaports and strengthens maritime trade relations between the two countries.
In addition, the agreement encourages the exchange of knowledge and experience in maritime logistics and port management, joint research and connections between Israeli and Moroccan shipping professionals.
The third agreement establishes guidelines for cooperation in transportation and road safety between the Israeli and Moroccan ministries of transportation and the national road safety, specifically focusing on road safety management strategy, integration of innovative technologies, upgrading data collection systems, accident investigation and promotion of road safety research.
“The State of Israel has world-class technologies and we are happy to share them with our Moroccan colleagues,” Regev noted, adding that Israel is also happy to learn from Morocco about “the establishment of high-speed trains to fulfill my plans to build a railway line from Eilat in the south, to Kiryat Shemona in the north.
“The connection to Morocco will also allow us a gateway to Africa,” she pointed out. Abdel Jali commented that the agreements will also serve to provide Morocco with an “economic gateway to Europe and the entire world.”
Joint work teams are to be established by the two countries, and Regev invited her counterpart to visit Israel this September.
