Today, I bid farewell with a heavy heart to my dear friend and partner, Salmane Tariq El Allami.

Tariq was a professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat. He was among the small, founding group of MENA2050 members, years before we began our public activities. His ideas, broad intellectual horizons, and unwavering belief in regional cooperation left a lasting mark on MENA2050.

Over the years, I came to know Tariq well, to admire and love him. He was a kind, humble, and generous man. He possessed remarkable knowledge across a wide range of fields and was a fascinating conversationalist.

Tariq was a true Moroccan patriot. He always represented his country with pride, dignity, and affection, in a way that inspired admiration and respect. He educated generations of students and took immense pride in them. He regarded education as a calling and believed there was no substitute for investing in future generations as the foundation for a stronger society and nation.

Tariq also believed in the values upon which we founded MENA2050: regional cooperation and integration as the foundation for stability, prosperity, and hope across MENA. He often emphasized Morocco's unique role in this process, highlighting its pluralistic society and its long tradition of tolerance, religious openness, and coexistence.

At one of the MENA2050 meetings he led, Tariq presented his vision of the relationship between the Humanities, Media and Information Literacy, and Human Development in the MENA region. He believed that genuine development cannot be built on economics, infrastructure, technology, and science alone. In his view, without investing in the Humanities, Media and Information Literacy, it would be impossible to build prosperous, tolerant, resilient societies. He saw them as essential to understanding the region's history, cultures, languages, and traditions, fostering critical thinking, encouraging dialogue, and laying the foundations for lasting peace.

Out of this vision emerged one of Tariq's dreams: the establishment of "The MENA2050 Center for Global Humanities and International Living." He envisioned a regional center that would bring together stakeholders from across the region, united by the belief that mutual understanding, learning, and cooperation are indispensable to building a better future.

In recent years, Tariq faced a serious illness with dignity. Sadly, he passed away before we had the opportunity to realize his vision and begin building the center he had dreamed of.

I will miss Tariq deeply. His wisdom, thoughtful advice, moderation, and clear judgment always gave me confidence. His warm smile, generous heart, and steadfast friendship gave me a sense of trust and hope. I loved you dearly, Tariq, and I miss you.

At MENA2050, we will carry forward the torch you lit and keep working for a future of regional cooperation, tolerance, and hope.

May your memory be a blessing.