Blog

News: Headlines from the Moroccan Press: Wednesday, May 22, 2019

AUJOURD'HUI LE MAROC
First assessment for the 13th region created by the CGEM two years ago: 500 MRE entrepreneurs already members:
Since its creation in July 2017, the Moroccan Entrepreneurs of the World (MEM) platform has been part of a logic of social and economic cooperation dedicated to a specific category of Moroccans of the world. These are indeed the entrepreneurs of the diaspora for whom this 13th region is dedicated. Although it is virtual, this leading economic territory, called MEM by CGEM, has been able to develop its visibility and notoriety by leveraging Moroccan skills residing abroad and the image of Morocco on the move. This platform, the result of a fruitful partnership between the Deputy Ministry for Moroccans Residing Abroad and Migration Affairs and the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises, has succeeded in attracting 489 members in two years of existence. The objective is to soon reach 1,000 subscribers...

Inaugurated by HM the King in Casablanca: 60 million dirhams for the local medical centre of Sidi Moumen:
HM King Mohammed VI on Monday in the Sidi Moumen district (prefecture of the districts of Sidi Bernoussi), inaugurated a local medical centre - Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, carried out for a total investment of 60 million dirhams. This solidarity project, whose construction work was launched by the Sovereign on October 11, 2016, reflects HM the King's commitment to improve medical services for citizens, consolidate the provision of care for vulnerable populations, and ensure comprehensive, sustainable and integrated human development...


LE MATIN DU SAHARA
Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire assess in Abidjan the progress of the cooperation agreements:
With six Royal visits and two presidential visits since 2013, relations between Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire have experienced unprecedented dynamism. Thus, a wide range of partnership agreements have been signed, leading to the launch of no fewer than 120 projects in sectors as varied as education, transport, finance, industry, sea fishing and agriculture... To review the progress of the agreements concluded and the related projects, a working session was held last Monday in Abidjan. It was co-chaired by the Minister Delegate for African Cooperation, Mohcine Jazouli, and the Secretary General of the Ivorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Daouda Diabaté...

Global growth: Two new studies confirm the slowdown for this year:
The waltz of figures on global growth forecasts continues. With a common denominator, since they are all expecting a slowdown this year. The most recent ones are from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). For the first, the world economy is expected to grow by 3.2% in 2019, after 3.5% in 2018, against a backdrop of persistent trade tensions and significant financial vulnerabilities. Several major economies are expected to slow down, including the United States, China, Germany, France and Japan...


LES INSPIRATIONS ÉCO
Officialization of the Amazigh. Who is responsible for the delay? :
The officialization of Amazigh is lagging behind. The majority parliamentary groups are struggling to agree on the amendments to be introduced to the organic bill on the officialization of Amazigh with the National Council of Moroccan Languages and Culture, which have been at a standstill within the legislative institution since their transfer by the Benkirane government in September 2016. The government, which has been called upon several times on this issue in the Chamber, is sending the ball back to Parliament...

Moralize governance:
Managing scarcity begins with good governance, which could prove to be an interesting way to replenish the coffers and limit dependence on debt. We have repeated it in this space: despite our limited income, we can do better by optimizing our expenses and fighting prevarication. In other words, we must lead a lifestyle that suits a country with a GDP of barely $108 billion, reduce non-productive spending, put an end to the corruption that deprives the state coffers of several billion dirhams and finally improve productivity through labour value...


L'ECONOMISTE
Open data: Morocco out:
"Morocco is in decline in terms of open data", a recent report by the Court of Auditors deduced. However, in 2011, it was the first African country to adopt an Open Data platform. Indeed, despite the initial momentum, Morocco has lost ground and has not sufficiently capitalized on this project of data opening. As proof, it has fallen back in the world ranking (Open Data Barometer). This is "a significant decline in the Open Data Barometer index, from 40th place (in 2013) to 79th place (in 2016)". At the origin of this loss of speed, the combination of several factors...

Wholesale market: All beautiful, but... :
For the first time since its commissioning in 1986, the Casablanca wholesale market has been the subject of a "renovation operation" involving infrastructure, security and computerised control of goods flows. Obviously, the operation was driven by the concern to safeguard the municipal revenue. On the other hand, the control of the health risk remains non-existent. The absence of samples to detect chemical residues is very revealing...


LIBERATION
Online availability and maturity of the services involved:
May 2014-May 2019. In five years, the Court of Auditors has twice reviewed the status of the national digital strategy and made recommendations on it. Released on Monday, its latest report on online public services is the result of its review of the online availability and maturity of key services, as well as governance, communication and monitoring aspects of the evolution of online services and their level of use. Among the aspects also covered by this 122-page document, there is that of Open Data, given its importance for users and the administration itself...

The environment of the Moroccan public sphere, impact on communication:
Public communication is a relatively new field in public administrative practice. However, the adoption of communication models and techniques in current processes does not distinguish between the public and private sectors, applying the same practices to all scenarios. It is true that public communication is undoubtedly influenced by the development of habits in the profession in the broad sense. Communicators can evolve between different private or public systems, drawing on experience and knowledge acquired in one field and transmitting it to another...