Rabat- Morocco signed a triangular memorandum with South Korea and other African countries on automotive vocational training Friday in Rabat.
Saaid Amzazi, Moroccan minister of education and vocational training, and the South Korean ambassador to Morocco, Seong-Deok Yun, presided over the signing of the memorandum on Friday, in Rabat, according to state-owned media outlet Maghreb Arab Press.
The meeting focused on developing the African automotive sector by training managers in Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Côte d’Ivoire.
The agreement will allow 53 Moroccan and other African managers and trainers in the automotive industry to receive a four years vocational training by South Korean experts in both Morocco and South Korea.
The cooperation, in addition to enhancing the African automotive industry, will strengthen the ties between Morocco, South Korea, and other African countries.
Amzazi noted that partnership with South Korea gave birth to the public-private project of the Automobile Professions Training Institute of Casablanca (IFMIAC) which serves as a model for the African automobile industry.
Yun also pointed out South Korean interest in cooperating with Morocco as a gateway to Africa and the unique experience that IFMIAC represents for the two countries.
Morocco and South Korea have recently sought to further enhance their bilateral relations and economic cooperation during a meeting in late August between Habib El Malki, Morocco’s speaker of the House of Representatives, and Lee Ju-Young, deputy speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly.
The meeting sought to create new bilateral opportunities in the automotive, renewable energies, and tourism sectors.
In an effort to diversify its trade, Morocco is expected to increase cooperation with South Korea, which now represents only 0.9 percent of all Moroccan trade according to Mohammed Tawfik Mouline, director general of the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES).
The memorandum comes as Morocco is shifting its educational approach to increase and improve its vocational trainings at the direction of King Mohammed VI.
On October 2, the King presided over a session with the education committee, urging it to develop more vocational training centers and diversify the training programs to include sectors with high economic potential.
Morocco has recently signed an agreement with Bulgaria on training in diplomacy and international relations, and held talks with Malaysia on the expansion of an academic and vocational training partnership.
