Moroccan King Mohammed VI and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin met in the north African kingdom's biggest city Casablanca on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties, before the two countries signed a series of cooperative agreements, local media reported.

Putin's visit, the first by Russia's head of state, followed a trip by the Moroccan king to Moscow in 2002, when the two countries signed a document on forming a strategic partnership.

During their meeting, the Moroccan king and Putin decided to continue enhancing the traditional friendship between the two countries. They also exchanged views on Middle East and African issues.

After the summit meeting, Russian and Moroccan officials signed cooperative agreements on legal affairs, fishing, tourism, culture, information, agriculture, sports, medicine and financial operations.

The two sides also set up a joint commission to promote bilateral trade and investment.

Morocco and Russia have maintained friendly ties and seen their trade volume increase to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, up from 640 million dollars in 2001.

Russia's exports to Morocco include crude oil, iron and steel and raw materials, while Morocco exports agricultural products and other commodities to Russia.

Putin arrived early on Thursday from South Africa and left Morocco for home later in the day.

Source: Xinhua