Long-existing, bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation between Burundi and the Kingdom of Morocco have always been good. In order to strengthen them and extend the scope of cooperation between the two countries, agreements have been signed. Those include the agreement on the creation of the joint commission of cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco as well as the agreement on the exemption of visas for holders of diplomatic, service and special passports between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco, which were analyzed and adopted in the plenary sitting of April 25, 2023. The Minister of Infrastructure, Equipment and Social Housing, Captain Dieudonné Dukundane was sent by the Government to present before the National Assembly, the draft bills relating to these agreements.
The main mission of this Joint Commission is to promote economic, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries, as well as to strengthen and further develop bilateral relations on the basis of mutual equality and understanding. Furthermore, the holding of the sessions of this Joint Commission constitutes an appropriate framework for exploring new areas of cooperation. This commission also constitutes an ideal platform for monitoring and evaluating the state of implementation of the agreements already signed between the two parties, always in the shared interest.
Once the joint cooperation commission has been created and validated by the two countries, the concrete activities to be developed will include capacity building in technical and scientific fields for the benefit of Burundian civil servants as well as the granting of scholarships for Burundian students in Moroccan higher education, technical and professional institutions. At a time when the Moroccan Office Chérifien des Phosphates, which specializes in phosphate fertilizers, recently promised 4 million tons of fertilizers to African countries at preferential prices, Burundi will also benefit from that, alongside other countries on the continent. In the economic area, it will include the exchange of investment experience.
With a view to facilitating high-level visits and exchanges of official delegations within the framework of further strengthening this partnership, an agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, service and special passports was therefore signed between the Government of the Republic of Burundi and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco.
By ratifying that agreement, Burundi will have contributed to the implementation of the 1991 Treaty establishing the African Economic Community, whose Burundi and Morocco are members. It will also have facilitated the mobility of the populations of those two countries on one hand and of the African continent on the other.
The MPs asked the Government envoy why only holders of diplomatic, special and service passports are privileged when the beneficiaries of those opportunities (students, job seekers and businessmen) have ordinary passports. The Minister Dieudonné Dukundane replied that that privilege is given to facilitate the movement of officials for common interests.
For holders of ordinary passports, countries are very reluctant, to avoid uncontrolled movement of people who could take advantage of that breakthrough to engage in non-beneficial activities, sometimes even cross-border criminal acts, including irregular and uncoordinated youth migration. As a matter of principle, the exemption agreement for ordinary passport holders comes within regional blocs to facilitate the free movement of goods, persons and investments, such as the East African Community.
After rich and fruitful discussions, the two bills were adopted unanimously.
