The inauguration of an embassy in Rabat and of a consulate in Laayoune testifies to the "great interest" of the Republic of Zambia in cooperation with the Kingdom of Morocco, said Friday, Zambian Foreign Minister, Joseph Malanji, welcoming the "solidity" of bilateral relations.

The opening of a Consulate General in Laayoune on Thursday proves once again that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan "was and will always be on Morocco's side" concerning the Sahara issue, said Deputy Prime Minister, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Al-Safadi.

Morocco has put in place "an ambitious development plan" comprising a hundred projects in the Sahara provinces for the period 2015-2021 which has turned this territory into "a hub of investment and growth", underlined on Sunday Spanish newspapers "La Povincia" and "El Dia".

The partnership between Morocco and the European Union (EU) in agriculture and fisheries is at the mercy of repeated lawsuits filed by an entity with no legal status or capacity to act or speak on behalf of the Sahrawi population.

Latin American and African civil society actors have stressed the importance of supporting the Moroccan autonomy initiative as a serious, credible and objective mechanism and as the only basis to achieve a just and lasting solution to the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.