Above: St Lucia

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A 10-member delegation from Morocco will visit St Lucia on Friday.

It will mark the first visit of a high-level delegation from Morocco in years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two sides in 1988.

The group, led by Nasser Bourita, General Secretary of Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, follows a recent meeting between St Lucia Foreign Minister Alva Baptiste and Moroccan Foreign Minister Dr Saad Dine El Otmani last year at the CARICOM-Morocco consultation in Rabat.

The trip will reportedly provide an opportunity to finalize the establishment of a Moroccan embassy in St Lucia.

Last year’s consultation and this visit seems to indicate a renewed Caribbean push by Morocco, which is currently partnering with the government of Dominica on the construction of the Cabrits hotel.

Morocco has previously mentioned that it could make a number of scholarship awards available to St Lucians to pursue undergraduate studies.

The talks will also explore ways to increase St Lucia’s agricultural production.