Franco-Moroccan Cooperation Update
29 November 2007
Read by 2138 persons
Within the framework of Moroccan-French cooperation, Radio Rabat Chaîne Inter presents this interview with the French Ambassador to Rabat, Mr. Jean-François Thibault.
Q: Relations between France and Morocco are excellent. This was shown by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Morocco last month. It was the President's first visit to the Maghreb region. The visit resulted in the signing of several agreements between the two countries, notably for the construction of a high-speed train line between Casablanca and Tangier and the launch of civil nuclear cooperation in Morocco. Your Excellency, the French company Alstom Transport won the Rabat-Salé tramway contract. Alstom will deliver 46 trams for Rabat's future tramway. I'd like to know your reaction?
R: Listen, my reaction is one of great satisfaction. It's quite clear that the recent decision to award Alstom the contract for the Rabat tramway rolling stock is a decision linked to the President's state visit, as you recall the President visited the Bouregreg Valley development site. The entire project, which includes the tramway project, was presented to him. Therefore, the President strongly supported Alstom's bid for this project.
But there are other aspects, notably the French Development Agency, which is involved in financing projects related to the social impacts of the overall project. So, there are many aspects of the Bouregreg project that will allow us to develop Franco-Moroccan cooperation. And therefore, I am extremely satisfied.
Q: France is the largest investor in Morocco and also the kingdom's leading trading partner. What measures has France taken to encourage more French investors to come to Morocco?
R: First, there are already a large number of French investors in Morocco. And you know that more than 60% of foreign direct investment in Morocco today is French. So, this is a remarkable phenomenon and one that I personally find very significant in terms of the intensity and intimacy of our relations. It must also be recognized that this very large share of French investors in investment in Morocco is also linked to the privatization phenomenon. You know that the privatization of major Moroccan public offices and companies has allowed a number of operators, including French operators, to invest in Morocco. What is needed now is that, beyond the large groups that have invested in Morocco, perhaps French SMEs or smaller and medium-sized companies should be even more mobilized to come and work, forge alliances, and operate in Morocco. And that's what our embassy is working on with other actors, such as the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco and the Franco-Moroccan Economic Impulse Group, which are institutions that encourage investors, regardless of the size of the companies involved, to come to Morocco, which is an interesting, open, and liberalizing market in which they have every interest in establishing themselves.
Q: A memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy was signed between Rabat and Paris. Where is this project at?
R: What the two Heads of State, His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the President of the French Republic, decided is that they each appointed one of their closest collaborators to meet and bring together the various actors involved on both sides in the civil nuclear sector. This means the actors who are both industrial and institutional, research centers, training institutes, government bodies, operators of all kinds, in France and Morocco, so that we can quickly achieve a well-structured partnership, if you'll allow me the expression, in the field of civil nuclear energy.
Q: Your Excellency, another Franco-Moroccan partnership is promoting the reform of Moroccan universities to bring them closer to the European system to improve their competitiveness. What can you tell us about this?
R: Exactly. I believe that the area you are addressing, university cooperation, is an extremely important area. Indeed, we have a cooperation program that is developing between the two conferences of presidents of French and Moroccan universities, aimed at bringing the Moroccan system up to international and European standards in terms of diploma and curriculum delivery. So, this is very important because it allows the Moroccan university to become a little less isolated. I don't know if it's isolated, but it does allow it to perfect its integration into the international system. This is also the Moroccan will itself. It's not something that's imposed from the outside; it's really about supporting a reform movement that is underway and that has been decided by the highest Moroccan authorities and university presidents. So, we help, we support, we cooperate to the extent that our Moroccan friends request it.
Q: You will contribute to the construction of a Sciences Po Paris school?
R: Listen, on Sciences Po Paris, I think it's a little too early to talk about it. It's a current topic, you're right. It's very important, moreover. What I would like to note, if you'll allow me, regarding the decisions taken during the presidential visit, an agreement was reached for the establishment in Casablanca of a section of the Toulouse School of Management, which will be a truly Franco-Moroccan curriculum, completely at the same level as this business school, and which will allow Moroccan students on site to study in a setting entirely equivalent to that of our French high schools. I believe this is also a very important agreement and one that I am sure will foreshadow many others in the field of grandes écoles and universities in Morocco.
Q: And you will build an international university in Salé?
R: Now, on this international university project, it is under discussion. We are following it very closely. You know, it's a concept, as you said, of an international university, that is to say, a university that would be both Franco-Moroccan but which would also have a very strong African dimension. It is a university that could undoubtedly welcome students from countries other than France or Morocco, and notably from Francophone African countries. So, it's a very good project, but I wouldn't want you to think that it's a project that has been completely finalized. We are still discussing it. Discussions are continuing, and we are very interested.
Q: And then cooperation also includes cultural and linguistic action. Where is this cooperation at?
R: Cultural and linguistic cooperation is extremely important in Morocco. There is a very extensive French network in Morocco, bringing together more than 26,000 students, 70% of whom are Moroccans or Franco-Moroccans. This is the AEFE network, but also the OSUI network, and more recently, Moroccan private schools that have successfully completed a homologation procedure and provide teaching of the same nature as the other entities I have just mentioned. And beyond this strictly French network in Morocco or totally integrated into the French education system, there is all the cooperation that we develop with the Moroccan public education system within the framework of a number of cooperation programs, and I obviously hope that this cooperation with the Moroccan public education system will strengthen and multiply. I would very much like bridges, exchanges, and cooperation to be created a little more between the two networks I have just mentioned: the small French network and the very large network of Moroccan public education. I believe this is one of the avenues for the future.
Regarding the cultural aspect you mentioned, let me simply remind you that we have, I believe, 9 or 10 French Institutes in Morocco, depending on their status, plus three Franco-Moroccan alliances, one of which recently opened on the Atlantic coast, complementing the others in Safi. So, we have a very dense network of alliances and French Institutes that have, in fact, a double objective: both to give French language courses to non-French-speaking audiences who wish to learn French - among them are many young people preparing for university through this means - there are 50,000 of them, a quarter of the global number, and then the second dimension, which is the cultural dimension of these alliances and institutes, is to offer the Moroccan public cultural activities, whether it be literature, painting, theater, dance, everything you can imagine, in a spirit, obviously, of cooperation between our two cultures, French and Moroccan, which are two great cultures, two great cultural and linguistic traditions through French and Arabic, and which deserve to be constantly put into cooperation and synergy.
Q: A final word, Your Excellency, within the framework of the National Initiative for Human Development, launched by His Majesty Mohammed VI in 2005. France is supporting the government in financing several projects. Can we know which project France has financed?
R: I think the President of the Republic said it extremely clearly before the Moroccan Parliament: we give our full support to the initiative launched by His Majesty, the National Initiative for Human Development. This seems to us, obviously, to be absolutely fundamental for reducing social inequalities and for the harmonious economic and social development of our friendly country, Morocco. And so, this support is total. The President of the Republic has just announced, on the occasion of his state visit, that France will make a contribution in the form of an 8 million euro grant.
Rabat Chaîne Inter
Published November 30, 2007
ambafrance-ma
Q: Relations between France and Morocco are excellent. This was shown by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Morocco last month. It was the President's first visit to the Maghreb region. The visit resulted in the signing of several agreements between the two countries, notably for the construction of a high-speed train line between Casablanca and Tangier and the launch of civil nuclear cooperation in Morocco. Your Excellency, the French company Alstom Transport won the Rabat-Salé tramway contract. Alstom will deliver 46 trams for Rabat's future tramway. I'd like to know your reaction?
R: Listen, my reaction is one of great satisfaction. It's quite clear that the recent decision to award Alstom the contract for the Rabat tramway rolling stock is a decision linked to the President's state visit, as you recall the President visited the Bouregreg Valley development site. The entire project, which includes the tramway project, was presented to him. Therefore, the President strongly supported Alstom's bid for this project.
But there are other aspects, notably the French Development Agency, which is involved in financing projects related to the social impacts of the overall project. So, there are many aspects of the Bouregreg project that will allow us to develop Franco-Moroccan cooperation. And therefore, I am extremely satisfied.
Q: France is the largest investor in Morocco and also the kingdom's leading trading partner. What measures has France taken to encourage more French investors to come to Morocco?
R: First, there are already a large number of French investors in Morocco. And you know that more than 60% of foreign direct investment in Morocco today is French. So, this is a remarkable phenomenon and one that I personally find very significant in terms of the intensity and intimacy of our relations. It must also be recognized that this very large share of French investors in investment in Morocco is also linked to the privatization phenomenon. You know that the privatization of major Moroccan public offices and companies has allowed a number of operators, including French operators, to invest in Morocco. What is needed now is that, beyond the large groups that have invested in Morocco, perhaps French SMEs or smaller and medium-sized companies should be even more mobilized to come and work, forge alliances, and operate in Morocco. And that's what our embassy is working on with other actors, such as the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco and the Franco-Moroccan Economic Impulse Group, which are institutions that encourage investors, regardless of the size of the companies involved, to come to Morocco, which is an interesting, open, and liberalizing market in which they have every interest in establishing themselves.
Q: A memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy was signed between Rabat and Paris. Where is this project at?
R: What the two Heads of State, His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the President of the French Republic, decided is that they each appointed one of their closest collaborators to meet and bring together the various actors involved on both sides in the civil nuclear sector. This means the actors who are both industrial and institutional, research centers, training institutes, government bodies, operators of all kinds, in France and Morocco, so that we can quickly achieve a well-structured partnership, if you'll allow me the expression, in the field of civil nuclear energy.
Q: Your Excellency, another Franco-Moroccan partnership is promoting the reform of Moroccan universities to bring them closer to the European system to improve their competitiveness. What can you tell us about this?
R: Exactly. I believe that the area you are addressing, university cooperation, is an extremely important area. Indeed, we have a cooperation program that is developing between the two conferences of presidents of French and Moroccan universities, aimed at bringing the Moroccan system up to international and European standards in terms of diploma and curriculum delivery. So, this is very important because it allows the Moroccan university to become a little less isolated. I don't know if it's isolated, but it does allow it to perfect its integration into the international system. This is also the Moroccan will itself. It's not something that's imposed from the outside; it's really about supporting a reform movement that is underway and that has been decided by the highest Moroccan authorities and university presidents. So, we help, we support, we cooperate to the extent that our Moroccan friends request it.
Q: You will contribute to the construction of a Sciences Po Paris school?
R: Listen, on Sciences Po Paris, I think it's a little too early to talk about it. It's a current topic, you're right. It's very important, moreover. What I would like to note, if you'll allow me, regarding the decisions taken during the presidential visit, an agreement was reached for the establishment in Casablanca of a section of the Toulouse School of Management, which will be a truly Franco-Moroccan curriculum, completely at the same level as this business school, and which will allow Moroccan students on site to study in a setting entirely equivalent to that of our French high schools. I believe this is also a very important agreement and one that I am sure will foreshadow many others in the field of grandes écoles and universities in Morocco.
Q: And you will build an international university in Salé?
R: Now, on this international university project, it is under discussion. We are following it very closely. You know, it's a concept, as you said, of an international university, that is to say, a university that would be both Franco-Moroccan but which would also have a very strong African dimension. It is a university that could undoubtedly welcome students from countries other than France or Morocco, and notably from Francophone African countries. So, it's a very good project, but I wouldn't want you to think that it's a project that has been completely finalized. We are still discussing it. Discussions are continuing, and we are very interested.
Q: And then cooperation also includes cultural and linguistic action. Where is this cooperation at?
R: Cultural and linguistic cooperation is extremely important in Morocco. There is a very extensive French network in Morocco, bringing together more than 26,000 students, 70% of whom are Moroccans or Franco-Moroccans. This is the AEFE network, but also the OSUI network, and more recently, Moroccan private schools that have successfully completed a homologation procedure and provide teaching of the same nature as the other entities I have just mentioned. And beyond this strictly French network in Morocco or totally integrated into the French education system, there is all the cooperation that we develop with the Moroccan public education system within the framework of a number of cooperation programs, and I obviously hope that this cooperation with the Moroccan public education system will strengthen and multiply. I would very much like bridges, exchanges, and cooperation to be created a little more between the two networks I have just mentioned: the small French network and the very large network of Moroccan public education. I believe this is one of the avenues for the future.
Regarding the cultural aspect you mentioned, let me simply remind you that we have, I believe, 9 or 10 French Institutes in Morocco, depending on their status, plus three Franco-Moroccan alliances, one of which recently opened on the Atlantic coast, complementing the others in Safi. So, we have a very dense network of alliances and French Institutes that have, in fact, a double objective: both to give French language courses to non-French-speaking audiences who wish to learn French - among them are many young people preparing for university through this means - there are 50,000 of them, a quarter of the global number, and then the second dimension, which is the cultural dimension of these alliances and institutes, is to offer the Moroccan public cultural activities, whether it be literature, painting, theater, dance, everything you can imagine, in a spirit, obviously, of cooperation between our two cultures, French and Moroccan, which are two great cultures, two great cultural and linguistic traditions through French and Arabic, and which deserve to be constantly put into cooperation and synergy.
Q: A final word, Your Excellency, within the framework of the National Initiative for Human Development, launched by His Majesty Mohammed VI in 2005. France is supporting the government in financing several projects. Can we know which project France has financed?
R: I think the President of the Republic said it extremely clearly before the Moroccan Parliament: we give our full support to the initiative launched by His Majesty, the National Initiative for Human Development. This seems to us, obviously, to be absolutely fundamental for reducing social inequalities and for the harmonious economic and social development of our friendly country, Morocco. And so, this support is total. The President of the Republic has just announced, on the occasion of his state visit, that France will make a contribution in the form of an 8 million euro grant.
Rabat Chaîne Inter
Published November 30, 2007
ambafrance-ma
