RABAT, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The third Moroccan-French Parliamentary Forum was held on Friday in Morocco's capital Rabat to cement partnership between the two countries.

Organized under the theme "the Morocco-France partnership: African perspectives," the forum concerns security cooperation, migration challenges, economic cooperation and new means to achieve sustainable development in Africa.

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Francois De Rugy, president of the French National Assembly, commended Morocco's strong commitment to the development and stability of Africa through its political actions, companies and peacekeepers deployed in African countries.

The French-Moroccan Parliamentary Forum was born of a conviction for the need for the two legislative bodies to play a full part in the political dialogue, especially after a constitutional reform granted the Moroccan parliament significant powers in 2011.

Meanwhile, Habib El Malki, the speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, hailed the decisive role France plays in serving a true Euro-African partnership.

Given the important role the two countries are playing in Africa, a new multi-dimensional partnership toward Africa based on solidarity is needed to help the continent meet its pressing challenges, he noted.

The forum, with its first session organized in 2013 in Rabat and the second in Paris in 2015, aims to deepen exchanges on common challenges, including security and ecological issues as well as sustainable development.