South-South co-operation tops agenda at Asilah festival

2009-08-05

The ongoing Asilah International Festival of Culture draws global leaders to discuss greater global co-operation and the importance of civil society in north Morocco.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Asilah – 05/08/09

[Sarah Touahri] The Asilah Festival is a forum for dialogue between leaders from many countries, said Forum chief Mohamed Benaissa.

Every year, the Asilah International Festival of Culture brings life to this small town in north Morocco, as select groups of high-profile figures come to debate news and important issues of the day. This year, the festival, which opened on Saturday (August 1st), focused on building more South-South co-operation in international politics.

"Regional South-South co-operation lies at the heart of the trends that we are currently witnessing at the international level," said King Mohammed VI in a message delivered to the participants on Saturday. The monarch said that the debate is open to civil society, which has a powerful influence on international relations.

The 31st run of the festival began Saturday and will continue until August 18th. Leading figures from the realms of politics, diplomacy, culture, art and the media travelled from many different countries to attend. Their goal is to discuss the main theme for the gathering: "Arab-Afro-Ibero-Latin-American Co-operation: Governments and Civil Society".

Mohammed Benaissa, general secretary of the Asilah Forum Foundation that created the event, said that the festival became a forum for communication and ongoing dialogue between leaders of the countries of the North, South, East and West. "Extending beyond the narrow dialogue groups and closed lounges, we are open to representatives of different persuasions and ideas, including those opposed to our initiative," he said.

The speakers regarded this year's event as a milestone in the festival's history and spoke of the importance of this forum in the encounters, exchange and dialogue between civilisations and cultures it provided.

Benaissa said that it is important to co-ordinate the efforts of governments and civil society to strengthen the ties of co-operation between the countries of the South, while at the same time striving for balance in relations between the North and the South.

During the opening session of the conference, Chadli Neffati, Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League, said that Arabs and Africans have historic ties, and their proximity and interaction blended their cultures.

Former Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor said that Africa hopes for genuine partnership, serious dialogue and trade based on true co-operation. The former president said it is time for the Arab world, with its culture, its diversity and its history, to work more closely with Africa.

The president of the Peruvian Congress, Luis Gonzales Posada, said that despite the distance between the Arab and Latin American worlds, it is important for them to co-operate in an active and dynamic manner.

Aside from the political debates, the festival paid posthumous tribute to two emblematic figures: Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and Sudanese writer Tayeb Saleh.

The event also offered a rich and diverse programme of concerts, talks and visual arts, through workshops and the city's famed frescoes.

Asilah residents said they were proud that an international event on this scale was held in their town. Lazhar Fatima, a student, said that the festival gave Asilah an international profile. "I have friends who come here from abroad every year to attend the festival. The event gets this normally peaceful and quiet town moving," she said.