U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will open a branch in the city of Dakhla which will serve as a starting point for all its operations towards the African continent, minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, said Sunday in Dakhla. This initiative confirms Dakhla's vocation as a link between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa and a major economic hub, as King Mohammed VI wanted as part of the development model of southern provinces, Bourita pointed out on the occasion of the visit by a high-level US delegation to the premises of the future US Consulate General in Dakhla. The minister noted that this clear position of the United States, as well as of other friendly countries, reinforces Morocco's confidence in the legitimacy of its national cause, recalling the US decision to recognize the full sovereignty of the Kingdom over the whole of its Sahara territory. «The US consulate will soon be inaugurated», said Bourita, adding that the opening of this diplomatic representation reflects the United States's desire to develop trade and human relations with the Kingdom. This new situation requires a readjustment of the Morocco-US Free Trade Agreement to allow Moroccan products, including those from southern regions, to access the US market, he underlined. With the support of friendly countries, Morocco remains committed to the UN process and to the ceasefire, said Bourita, while reiterating the Kingdom's commitment to a defined solution to this regional conflict, in the framework of the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. The upcoming opening of the US consulate in Dakhla is part of a global dynamic of support for the Moroccanness of the Sahara and the autonomy plan presented by the Kingdom he pointed out.
