France, Morocco sign agreement on heritage preservation

Head of Government, Abdelilah Benkirane chaired on Thursday the signing ceremony of an agreement between the Louvre museum in France and the National Foundation of Museums on the restoration of a set of works in various national museums. These works will be used at an exhibition in Morocco entitled “Medieval Morocco: an empire from Africa to Spain” and will be organized by The Louvre museum, on October 6, 2014 to January 5, 2015 in France, and on March 2 to June 1, 2015 in Morocco. The agreement was signed by Chairman of the National Foundation for Museums, Mehdi Qotbi and Chairman of the Louvre, Jean-Luc Martinez, Ambassador of France to Morocco, Charles Fries, and Director of the French Institute of Morocco, Bertrand Commelin in the presence of minister-delegate for the Budget, Driss El Azami El Idrissi and others. On this occasion, Benkirane recalled “the special attention paid by King Mohammed VI of Morocco to heritage preservation and the consolidation of the Kingdom’s standing,” adding that the agreement “is part of the excellent cooperation ties between Morocco and France, and fosters the openness of Morocco on its cultural environment.” For his part, the Ambassador of France in Morocco described the signing of the agreement as a “special tribute” paid to the historical relations between Morocco and France.