French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Morocco from October 28 to 30, 2024, accompanied by a 122-member delegation that includes government officials, economic leaders, and cultural figures. This visit marks a significant step in re-establishing diplomatic relations between Morocco and France, highlighted by a ceremony to sign agreements following talks with King Mohammed VI. On a state visit to Morocco starting this Monday, October 28, 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron will be accompanied by a 122-member delegation. The delegation includes officials, former ministers, elected representatives, MPs, administrators, economic, industrial, and institutional players, as well as representatives from the artistic, cultural, sporting, academic, scientific, and associative worlds. Many binational personalities are among the names listed. The official delegation includes nine members of the French government, led by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Other members include Rachida Dati (Culture), Anne Genetet (Education), Sébastien Lecornu (Armed Forces and Veterans), Antoine Armand (Economy, Finance, and Industry), Annie Genevard (Agriculture), Patrick Hetzel (Higher Education), and Olga Givernet, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate, and Risk Prevention, in charge of Energy. Members of parliament and elected representatives include Naïma Moutchou (Horizons), MP for Val-d'Oise (4th constituency) and Vice-President of the French National Assembly, and Karim Ben Cheikh, MP for the 9th constituency of French citizens living outside France and former President of the National Assembly's France-Morocco Friendship Group. Former elected representatives Fiona Lazaar and M'jid El Guerrab will be present, as well as Yamina Benguigui and Sarah El Haïry, former ministers delegate, and Hubert Védrine and Elisabeth Guigou, former ministers. Administrative representatives include Bariza Khiari, personal representative of the President of the Republic and President of the International Alliance for Heritage Protection in Conflict Zones (ALIPH), Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, President of the Financial Markets Authority at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Dora Cattuti, Deputy Director for North Africa at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Samira Djouadi, advisor to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council and founder of the Tous en stage association. Institutional players include Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, Patrick Martin, President of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), Claudia Scherer-Effosse, Director of the Agence pour l'Enseignement Français à l'Etranger (AEFE), and Valérie Verdier, Director of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). Business and culture Comprising 70 representatives, the economic and industrial delegation includes Christelle Heydemann, CEO of Orange, Faouzi Lamdaoui, Director of Institutional and Public Relations for Veolia's Africa-Middle East zone, Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, Sabrina Soussan, President and CEO of Suez, Ross McInnes, Chairman of the Board of Safran, Olivier Mazzucchelli, CEO of Transavia, Benoit Piétrement, President of Intercéréales, Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom, and Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies. Representatives from the worlds of arts, culture, sport, academia, science, and associations include Karim Amellal, writer and lecturer at Sciences Po, ambassador and inter-ministerial delegate for the Mediterranean, Jacques Attali, writer, economist, and conductor, Edgar Morin, writer, sociologist, and philosopher, Jack Lang, President of the Institut du Monde Arabe, Pierre-Olivier Costa, President of the Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée (MuCEM), Rachid Yazami, physical chemist and inventor, recipient of the 2014 Draper Prize from the American National Academy of Engineering, Ali Baddou, radio and TV host, and Nour Ayadi, pianist. The delegation also includes director Nabil Ayouch, writer and poet Tahar Benjelloun, actor and singer Gérard Darmon, comedian and actor Jamel Debbouze, writer, philosopher, and director Bernard-Henri Lévy, actress, singer, director, and screenwriter Arielle Dombasle, and Rajaa Moussadik, founder of the Salon du monde arabo-amazigh, Gilles Pécout, President of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Leïla Slimani, writer and journalist, Eric Toledano, director and screenwriter, Kim Younes, President of TV5 Monde, Abdelaali El Badaoui, President and founder of the Banlieues Santé association, and Marc Eisenberg, President of the Alliance israélite universelle (AIU). Sports personalities include Abdelatif Benazzi, former professional rugby XV player, president of the Noor association in Morocco and vice-president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), Sofiane Oumiha, professional boxer, multiple Olympic vice-champion and world champion, and Teddy Riner, professional judoka, multiple Olympic, world, and European champion. The state visit comes against a backdrop of re-established diplomatic relations between Morocco and France, following Paris's official recognition of the Kingdom's sovereignty over the Sahara, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fête du Trône. Accompanied by his wife Brigitte Macron, Emmanuel Macron will be visiting Morocco from October 28 to 30. After the official welcome, King Mohammed VI and Emmanuel Macron will hold one-to-one talks. They will then preside over a ceremony to sign agreements between the two countries.
