Honolulu partners with Moroccan city

[urbanguy]

Honolulu partners with Moroccan city

Source: Pacific Business News

This could be the start of a beautiful new friendship.

The line is from "Casablanca," but actually Rabat is the Moroccan city with which Honolulu is signed a sister city agreement.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Rabat official Abdelhak El Mantrech will sign the agreement Friday at Mission Memorial Auditorium in the presence of the Honolulu City Council. A state legislative reception will follow.

A Moroccan diplomatic delegation of more than a dozen high-ranking officials, artisans, and a world renowned Moroccan chef will be in Hawaii for "Aloha Morocco Week," also starting Friday.

It is the first sister city agreement between any Hawaii municipality and a city in the Muslim world, a spokesman for the city said Thursday night.

Morocco, on the northwest coast of Africa, shares Hawaii's interest in promoting tourism that is centered around surf, golf and nature.

======================

*It's finally official. I know that they Moroccan Consulate in Honolulu has been trying to get this going for quite a few years now and finally they will establish this relationship. I hope that the two places will take full advantage of this and participate in cultural exchange because Morocco is such a fascinating place and for it to be the first city from the Muslim world to be connected with Honolulu is quite awesome to foster better understanding of something the West is just really starting to learn more about.

Here are some things already established or in the works:

Source: Consulate of Morocco - Hawaii

Hawaii's Friends of Morocco (HFOM)

1. HAWAII'S FRIENDS OF MOROCCO (HFOM) is an association of Americans and Moroccans interested in promoting mutually beneficial educational, cultural, charitable, social, literary, scientific, and trade relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Hawaii. HFOM, as a Hawaii non-profit corporation, and is planning to file for the federal tax-exempt 501

[dgreco]

^glad to see they are setting up a 501c3 fund, I wish more organizations would do that in the US.

[City_of_Lakes]

Wow, whata great partnership. Only wish I could've been there for the festivities. Mmmm, Moroccan food...