Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Economy Mohamed Benchaaboun requested on Tuesday the EU’s participation with the Mohammed VI Investment Fund.
Benchaaboun made the request during a meeting in Rabat with the European Commissioner in charge of Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi.
The Moroccan official said that the European Union’s support could promote the presence of European investors in Morocco and strengthen the diversification of supply sources, said the ministry in a press release.
King Mohammed VI announced during his Throne Day speech on July 29 the creation of the fund with the aim to to support public and private investment projects in various sectors.
“Some 120 billion dirhams will be injected into the national economy, representing 11% of our GDP — a proportion that will place Morocco at the forefront of the most enterprising countries in terms of post-crisis stimulus packages,” the King said.
On November 27 the Government Council approved the creation of the Mohammed VI Investment Fund.
The Ministry of Economy said Benchaaboun’s meeting with Varhelyi shed light on the “positive results” of cooperation between Morocco and the EU regarding the negative repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis. It was also an opportunity to discuss the evolution of partnership between the two parties.
Prior to the EU commissioner’s visit, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita stressed on November 26 the importance of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) amid the COVID-19 crisis, calling it “more than necessary.”
Bourita said at a virtual EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting that the crisis has “demonstrated weaknesses” but also provides “opportunities to be exploited together.”
Read also: EU, Morocco Poised to Boost Post-COVID-19 Cooperation
Varhelyi expressed on October 3 the EU’s readiness to enhance cooperation with Morocco after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In charge of “Neighborhood and Enlargement,” the commissioner voiced the EU’s will to support Morocco’s development plan for the south, as part of ENP.
The 2016-2021 development program in Morocco’s southern provinces has reached a completion rate of 70%, Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani said on Monday. The country has completed 179 of the plan’s development projects for a total budget of MAD 13.2 billion ($1.45 billion), while 336 are ongoing and 236 are still in the planning phase.
In his speech on November 7 to commemorate the Green March anniversary, King Mohammed VI pledged that Western Sahara will be “an engine of development at the regional and continental levels,” with a major focus on the maritime potential of the area.
