ASSILAH (Morocco), July 12 (Bernama) -- United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has lauded the Assilah Festival in Morocco as a cultural initiative that fosters the language of dialogue, implants values of tolerance and acts as a bridge of cultural communication between the North and South, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

"The selection of "Renewable Energy" as the theme of the 32nd Assilah Festival underlines the philosophy of the festival by establishing culture as a container for development," Sheikh Khalifa said in his inaugural address, read by Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

The president's representative, attended the opening ceremony of the festival where the UAE was the Official Guest of Honour for the festival, which runs from July 10 to 27.

Sheikh Khalifa congratulated King Mohammed VI of Morocco on his 11th accession day, and highlighted the depth and strength of the UAE-Morocco ties.

This year's session provided an ideal opportunity for the UAE to apprise the participants of its efforts in deployment of renewable energy and its civilisational, historic, cultural and heritage contributions, the president said.

Sheikh Khalifa praised the Assilah festival founder, Mohamed Benaissa, saying that that gathering was one of the key media organs to promote "values of our authentic Arab and Islamic civilisation" and a model for interaction of cultures as well as a bridge linking the originality of the past with the modernity of the present.

He said that the selection of renewable energy as the theme of this year's edition demonstrated "our country's efforts for developing clean, economic and environmental-friendly sources of energy."

Source: BERNAMA.com