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Rabat – The minister delegate in charge of Moroccans Residing Abroad (MREs), Nezha El Ouafi, said on Tuesday that 17% of the Moroccan diaspora holds higher degrees and have received high-level training.
The minister shared the statistics after announcing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ draft national program to identify skilled individuals from the Moroccan diaspora.
The program seeks to mobilize 10,000 Moroccan executives residing abroad by 2030, El Ouafi said during a session at the House of Councilors in Rabat.
“The priority of the [foreign] ministry is to ensure a change in terms of mobilization of skills and institutionalization of this initiative by strengthening the contribution of the Moroccan community to the various national projects,” the minister delegate said.
The official added that the program is the first with the goal to implement a series of measures to mobilize 10,000 skilled Moroccans overseas, adding to the MRE Academy Morocco announced on June 24.
The program seeks to promote employment among young people and develop new methods relating to training and remote education. It also includes the launch of a new project relating to the “Finkoum” (where are you) program.
The Moroccan government also seeks to encourage the diaspora to invest in their homeland.
During a previous session at the Parliament, Nezha El Ouafi introduced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ action report for 2020, including measures to meet the demands of Moroccans overseas. The ministry is set to launch a national program to encourage 500,000 MREs to invest in the country as part of the mobilization of skilled Moroccans residing abroad.
Read Also: Morocco Wants to Encourage 500,000 Moroccans Abroad to ‘Invest Home’
The number of Moroccans residing abroad is estimated at over five million.
The Moroccan government gives a special priority to MREs as they are among the key contributors to Morocco’s economy.
Despite the COVID-19 crisis, Moroccans residing abroad continued to send remittances to their families.
Recent data from Morocco’s Exchange Office show that remittances from Moroccans overseas increased by 2.2% at the end of September.
Remittances from the Moroccan diaspora reached $5.52 billion, an increase of $109.5 million compared to the same period in 2018.
In September 2019, money transfers from Moroccans residing abroad reached $5.41 billion.
