I look forward to my new role as President of ORU Fogar
In this moment of change of presidency, I would like to thank all members of ORU Fogar for the trust in electing me as President of the Organisation.
I wish to be worthy of this trust, and for that I will endeavour to reinforce our Organisation’s structures, to represent it before all international bodies to defend its program of action and to place it at the service of our members, supporting them in their path towards a balanced territorial development.
Aware of the responsibility that comes with my new office, I believe that concerted and team work at all levels will be the key to the success of our actions, which will allow us to be the spokesperson for our members in the main global discussions and to make steady progress.
After having had European and Latin-American presidencies, and in the spirit of alternation of our organisation, the last nominations for President and 1st Vice-President reflected a geographical balance among continents. We now have an African president and a European Vice-President, Mr. Laurent Wauquiez, in his capacity as Chairman of the International Association of Francophone Regions.
In this context, I would like to thank the laudable efforts of the outgoing first Vice-President, Mr. Abdelkébir Berkia, to ensure this African and European double nomination. I am convinced that, with his dynamism and experience, he will continue to support ORU’s action in his capacity as Vice-President of the region Rabat-Salé-Kénitra in charge of International Cooperation and as Secretary-General of the International Association of Francophone Regions.
At this moment of great emotion, I would like to express my warmest congratulations and pay homage to my predecessors, Presidents Vauzelle and Carrasco, for their work at the helm of the Organisation, reinforcing its international presence and seeking to promote it as a professional and independent organisation, serving the values of democracy, cooperation for a balanced co-development and decentralisation.
I also wish to congratulate the Secretary General, Carles Llorens, and his collaborators for their permanent and efficient engagement to the institution.
The joint declaration of the action program of ORU Fogar for the next term of office, developed in close collaboration with Laurent Wauquiez, 1st Vice-President, expresses our commitment to the 5 main points of the declaration, which I summarize as follows:
- To consolidate ORU Fogar’s presence in the world: by promoting the accession of European regions, increase our large presence in Latin America and opening the Asian continent.
- To reinforce the Organisation’s structures: by consolidating the financial and administrative structures, mobilizing new sources of funding other than the members’ fees, reactivating the work groups in charge of developing work documents, etc.
- To place the sustainable development and climate change challenges at the centre of ORU Fogar’s action, an issue that will be dealt with in depth at the COP22, which the Kingdom of Morocco will have the honour to host between the 7th and the 18th of November and where I hope there will be a massive participation of the Regions of Intermediate Governments members of ORU Fogar.
- To consolidate the Organisation’s action as a service platform for the benefit of the regions, offering our members the support they need to structure cooperation projects, training, investments and counselling services in a wide range of fields.
- To develop an institutional relations program to reinforce the bond with the main international organisations.
To conclude, I would like to thank you all once again for the trust placed in me as President of ORU Fogar and to ensure my commitment to the reinforcement of its achievements in the framework of a responsible and concerted work.
And, as the first event of this new term of office, Rabat will have the honour of hosting the first meeting of the Executive Bureau in 2017.
Abdessamad Sekkal
President of ORU Fogar
