Building up a new partnership with the Arab Maghreb Union: First official visit of its Secretary General, Taieb Baccouche, to the UfM

24 January 2019, Barcelona. The Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Taieb Baccouche, joined by AMU’s Director of Cabinet, Political Affairs and Information, Besma Soudani, visited for the first time the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona and met with its Secretary General, Nasser Kamel. The objective of this visit was to initiate and shape the future collaboration between the two organizations.

Secretary General Kamel and Baccouche took the opportunity to present the respective roles of the two organizations and how they can build synergies to benefit the people of the Maghreb region, notably on key areas such as development and migration, transport and higher education.

They acknowledged that, by working together, their respective organizations can shape better policies and initiatives to bring prosperity to the people in the region. The bilateral meeting was followed by working sessions with the participation of the AMU delegation and representatives of all the divisions and departments of the UfM. The UfM offered to provide technical support and transfer of knowledge to the AMU and members of its staff, notably with study visits with each Division at the UfM. Relevant sectors and technical experts of the AMU are foreseen to participate in the UfM’s working groups as observers to share best practices, transfer of knowledge and increase synergies.

This was the first official visit by the AMU at the UfM and both Secretaries General have agreed to continue unrolling the process of working together for successful collaboration in the Maghreb region.