From Third World to Middle Powers: A common future to celebrate 50 years of Philippine-Morocco relations

Secretary Of Foreign Affairs

April 10, 2025 marks a milestone in the long-standing ties between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Morocco as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The Philippines and Morocco formally established diplomatic relations on April 10, 1975. The Philippines opened an embassy in Rabat in 1979, which was closed a few years later. It was reopened in 1989 but was closed again in 1993. Morocco, for its part, opened an embassy in Manila for the first time in 2017, providing the impetus the Philippines needed to reopen its embassy in Rabat in 2020.

The presence of embassies in each other’s capitals facilitates the enhancement of the depth and breadth of our bilateral relations, including people-to-people exchanges and the deepening of understanding of each other’s cultures. In 2024, for example, we welcomed the first Moroccan exchange student in the Philippines within the framework of an academic partnership between the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and the International University of Rabat.

We have also established a political consultation mechanism that provides an opportunity for the foreign ministries of both countries to take stock of developments and achievements in our bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation. These include discussions on strengthening cooperation in various sectors, such as tourism, education, environment, renewable energy, labor, maritime and consular matters. The third political consultation was hosted by the Philippines in Manila in November 2024.

On the economic front, we saw our total trade more than treble from a modest $16 million in 2017 to almost $60 million in 2024.

With a visa waiver agreement between the Philippines and Morocco having been signed in 2004, we look forward to welcoming more Moroccan tourists in the Philippines who can visit the country visa-free for 30 days.

I must also mention that Morocco is home to the biggest Filipino community in Africa. The first and only Philippine Migrant Workers Office in Africa is based in Morocco. Falling under the supervision of the Philippine embassy in Rabat, it handles the concerns of our Filipinos not just in North Africa but also in the Sahel, a semi-arid region in Africa.

Today, Morocco and the Philippines are both considered “Middle-Income Countries” and veritable “Middle Powers,” leading the call for a paradigm shift in the understanding of development as a multidimensional, progressive and ongoing process that goes beyond reaching a specific income threshold. As members of the Like-Minded Group in Support of Middle-Income Countries in the UN, the Philippines and Morocco are partners in the international body in pursuing approaches to enable equitable, inclusive and just transition pathways for sustainable development.

We expect to address these issues during the High-Level Conference to be hosted in Manila later this month. This continues the global initiative to spotlight the middle-income countries agenda, building on Morocco’s hosting of the High-Level Ministerial Conference of Middle Income Countries in Rabat in February 2024.

I look forward to welcoming to our country all delegates to the High-Level Conference in Manila, including His Excellency Nasser Bourita, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco, who has been our friend and ally in this advocacy. His official visit to the Philippines will also provide us the opportunity to jointly commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between our two countries. His visit is also a tribute to our long history of partnership with Morocco in multilateral platforms, including as fellow champions of the Global Compact for Migration and co-chairs of the Group of Friends on Voluntary National Reviews.

Fifty years is a momentous occasion. Both our countries have nourished bilateral ties that can only improve and advance in years to come. We also move forward as partners and friends with a vision for a world that supports and strengthens the sovereignty, prosperity and sustainable development of states.