Rabat – Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) met members of Moroccan diaspora in London on Saturday, October 1 to explore opportunities for collaboration.
As part of its “+UM6P Associate+” program, which aims to create connections with Moroccans from around the world, representatives from the university met with the Moroccan British Competencies Network (MBCN), a network of Moroccan skilled workers residing in the UK.
Khalid Baddou, a UM6P representative, said that the Associate program aims to invite collaboration from Moroccans from over the world to contribute to the university through teaching and support.
The support could be directly given to students and researchers at the university, Baddou added, or indirectly given by connecting the institution to high-level researchers.
The initiative also comes following a speech by King Mohammed VI, who urged the country’s diaspora to help Morocco in its development efforts, Baddou continued.
Nabil Hajji, a professor at Imperial College London, said a delegation from the MBCN visited the Moroccan university a few months ago to meet researchers, students, and professors.
Hajji highlighted that the delegation was impressed by the university’s infrastructure and said that several ideas have already been proposed to the university’s representatives.
With recent studies showing that brain drain remains a pressing challenge for Morocco, especially in its medical sector, the country could be hoping to find ways to capitalize on its talent pool that’s abroad.
Such programs could help the skills of Moroccans residing abroad, as well as their connections, to trickle down to Moroccan institutions and citizens through indirect support and collaboration.
Similar Moroccan networks exist in other countries such as Sweden, prompting questions of whether the UM6P’s new program will attempt to expand its activities to countries other than the UK.
