Rabat – Moroccans living abroad play a critical role in Morocco’s development in a wide range of sectors, Morocco’s top diplomat Nasser Bourita said on Tuesday, suggesting that the country is actively working on ways of effectively mobilizing the skills and experiences of its sizable diaspora.
Addressing the challenges that members of the Moroccan diaspora face while in Morocco, Bourita stressed that skilled diaspora members are “a lever for Morocco’s development.”
The top Moroccan diplomat made the comments during a session at the House of Councillors in Rabat, recalling King Mohammed VI’s instructions to creatively and efficiently mobilize the skills and experiences of the Moroccan diaspora for national advancement.
Bourita stressed that the government recently created a working group to work on the royal instructions to enable Morocco to support and benefit from its diaspora’s expertise in various sectors.
He said that the Ministerial Committee for Moroccans and Migrations Affairs recently held a meeting that resulted in the creation of a working group that is set to present in February recommendations on how to identify competencies.
Sharing statistics on the diaspora’s contribution to Morocco’s economy, Bourita stressed that 10 % of the remittances of Moroccans abroad are directed to investment in the North African country.
He added, however, that only 2% of the remittances are directed to “productive investment.”
“This challenge must be solved at the legislative level by putting measures at the level of investment code” in addition to communication, Bourita explained.
In August, King Mohammed VI listed the challenges members of the Moroccan diaspora face in Morocco, including slow and inefficient administrative procedures.
“And yet, we must always ask ourselves: What have we done to consolidate that bond with the homeland? Do legislation and public policies take into account the particularities of our expatriate community?” the King said in his Revolution of the King and People speech in August.
The monarch stressed that many members of the expatriate community are facing a “number of hurdles and difficulties with regard to administrative matters or the launch of their projects.”
Morocco’s remittances are set to reach MAD 105.8 billion or $10.1 billion by the end of this year, according to new data from Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank.
The number represents an increase of 12.9% compared to a year earlier.
Remittances are however set to decline by 4% due to the economic crisis in Moroccan expatriates’ residing countries to reach $9.69 billion in 2023 before going back to $9.93 billion in 2024.
Bourita also recalled Morocco’s efforts to reform administrative services for diaspora members, stressing that his ministry is accelerating efforts to “digitize” various consular services to reduce the burden of consulates.
In addition to digitization measures, Bourita said, the government has in the past five years established call centers that have been processing approximately 25,000 to 30,000 calls per day from citizens seeking information about consular services.
