Source: MAP
Honolulu
His Majesty King Mohammed VI sent a message to the participants in “HM King Mohammed VI’s Week in Hawaii” held November 28 through December 2 in Honolulu.
Here follows the full text of the Royal message read out by Minister of Youth and Sports, Mohamed Ouzzine:
Praise be to God May peace and blessings be upon
His Prophets and Messengers
The Honorable Neil Abercrombie, Governor of the State of Hawaii
Distinguished Senate Representatives,
Residents of the State of Hawaii,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I should like, once again, to say how delighted I was to hear that the State of Hawaii had decided to organize a week named after Our Majesty. On this occasion, I want to express my sincere thanks to you, Governor Abercrombie, and through you, to the Senate and the residents of the State of Hawaii for this kind initiative, which reflects the close relationship between the State of Hawaii and the Region of Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer, as well as the longstanding friendship and strategic cooperation between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Following the re-election of President Barack Obama, I would like to point out that We are following, with great interest and support, his internal and external endeavors. We are grateful for his determined efforts to promote the strategic partnership our two nations have gradually forged between them.
It is most fortunate the fact that this event coincides with the first meeting of the Moroccan-US Business Development Conference, due to be held in Washington on December 4, as part of the Morrocan-US dialogue initiated earlier this year.
We are confident that this new trend in the field of cooperation between our two nations will usher in promising, far-reaching prospects for partnership between regions, economic and political actors, civil society organizations, and research centers and universities in Morocco and the US.
This new trend, based on permanent consultation and close coordination between our two nations on major national and international issues, will help optimize the use of the free trade agreement between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco, signed in 2004. Against the backdrop of this positive, promising environment, the State of Hawaii will no doubt serve as a model for this new generation of partnerships. The cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, due to be initialed this week between government entities and professional and associative organizations in Morocco and their counterparts in the State of Hawaii, will ensure effective implementation of the strategic vision which should, in Our view, characterize the future relationship between our two nations in areas of mutual interest.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
When the State of Hawaii pays tribute to Our Majesty this week, it will first and foremost be paying tribute to a people and a civilization whose development model was founded on the values of peace, tolerance and dialogue, and who built a society on ideals of freedom, justice, solidarity, respect for human rights and the safeguarding of human dignity, in addition to participative democracy and openness to the cultures and creeds of other human civilizations.
These are the same values that the American and Moroccan people share and which, together with President Obama, we have resolved to defend across the world, alongside nations and peoples yearning for a world of peace, fraternity, tolerance and the peaceful resolution of disputes, a world where sustainable human development prevails.
The strong bonds you have been able to build with Morocco date back to 1999, when an important delegation of Moroccan youth attended the first Millennium Young People’s Congress in Honolulu. Those foundations were further enhanced in 2005 when Morocco appointed an honorary consul of the Kingdom to the State of Hawaii. This move further strengthened the links established at the highest level between officials, economic, political and associative actors in the State of Hawaii and their counterparts in the Region of Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer. It also set the proper perspective for those officials and actors paving the way for regular exchange of working visits and joint activities in both Rabat and Honolulu.
The outcome of these initiatives is reflected in the way Morocco is now perceived by decision makers in the State, headed by Governor Neil Abercrombie, the Senate’s and residents’ representatives of the State of Hawaii as a whole.
The Kingdom of Morocco is proud of all that has been achieved since 1999, and of the decision made by the Governor and the Senate, and through them, the State’s residents, to organize a week named after Our Majesty.
We extend Our sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone for this important initiative, designed to give a truly distinct and special character to our partnership. The genuine convergence of our cultures, the depth of our common history and the collective voluntary commitment expressed by all actors and living forces on both sides have contributed to the gradual construction of this solid bridge linking the State of Hawaii and the Region of Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer.
Thanks to the audacity, quality and pertinence of your initiative, you are conveying a strong message to the world that the real obstacle to the mutual development of friendship, fraternity and solidarity among peoples lies not in long distances, but in the lack of a strong will and a firm belief in the relevant character of budding innovative partnerships that can turn geographical distance into human proximity, by the sheer force of its practical results.
I would like to conclude by congratulating those who contributed to building this bridge of friendship and fraternity, and expressing Our firm determination to support all initiatives designed to strengthen and perpetuate this bridge for the prosperity of our two nations.
Thank you.
Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.
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