Davos 2023: Special Address by Aziz Akhannouch, Head of Government of Morocco

I am particularly pleased to be speaking to you today, at a time when we are witnessing the unprecedented crystallisation of multiple challenges that combine the urgent need to accelerate the ecological transition and reinvent production modes and solidarity, while taking into account profound geopolitical changes.

The Kingdom of Morocco, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, has long since taken the measure of the profound changes at work since the advent of the new century, and has therefore prepared to address them by acting both on strategy and tactics.

Thanks to the profoundly reformist and solidarity-based vision voiced by His Majesty the King, the country has put in place a broad strategy to articulate the fundamental reforms that are essential on the socio-economic level, while at the same time responding to the urgent concerns of the moment, particularly with regard to the most fragile segments of society.

This dual requirement of performance and solidarity has enabled Morocco to weather the Covid-19 crisis in an exemplary manner, with one of the lowest mortality rates in the world and a socio-economic resilience which has been held up as an example by a number of institutions, including the World Bank.

Obviously, this didn’t happen by chance. This resilience from Morocco is rooted in the institutional and macroeconomic stability that the Kingdom has enjoyed for several decades.

Beyond that, such ability to overcome the hardship has also highlighted the social project strongly supported by His Majesty the King, that of a democracy that puts forth solidarity in sustainable development, a Nation that intends to take active part in global progress while cultivating its uniqueness.

The Kingdom of Morocco has long cultivated the attributes of a solidarity-based democracy. The rule of law, in particular, has made substantial progress over the past twenty years, and we are working tirelessly to consolidate the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

In this respect, following the Royal Directives, Morocco is working on a second generation of reforms modernising rights and freedoms: gender equality, freedom of expression, the right to appeal against administrative decisions, access and real equality (disability), and the right to make mistakes are a few symbolic examples.

Such legal developments are part of a wider project to strengthen the pillars of the social state and to renew the pact between the State and citizens. The aim here is to place citizens at the heart of public action and to move towards equal opportunity by correcting a number of fundamental distortions.

To do this, we have a number of assets, the first of which is immaterial. While part of the world only recently discovered - during a major global sporting event involving one ball and twenty-two players - how attached Moroccans are to their homeland, this was no surprise to our national community.

United by the nation’s cement that is the monarchy, Moroccans living in Morocco and abroad maintain a unique link with their country. They cultivate it all the more as the Kingdom clearly displays its ambitions through an exemplary development trajectory which has turned it into a key player in the Euro-African partnership, and one of the leading industrial bases in the Mediterranean.

Finally, they cultivate it because the Kingdom, thanks to the enlightened leadership of His Majesty the King, has launched a genuine “silent revolution” by effectively implementing the social protection project for all Moroccans, making Morocco the first African nation to offer its citizens, regardless of their income and occupation, health care and social benefits, including retirement.

In terms of competitiveness, the inclusive and solidarity-based system, together with a substantial reform of the health system, should enable us to increase our attractiveness in the very short term. In effect, it complements our first-rate physical infrastructures, which give Morocco an air-land-sea connectivity that is unmatched in the region: 2,000 km of motorway network, the first high-speed railway line in Africa, the continent's largest port on the Mediterranean and soon the largest on the Atlantic, as well as 14 international airports offering a very significant African projection capability.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Morocco, we are aware of our assets and the place we wish to occupy. However, we are also fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead.

These include the need to “give a future to the present” by allowing the greatest wealth of our country and continent, youth, to have sufficient opportunities to not only integrate the formal labour market, but also to unleash its creative energy through entrepreneurship.

This is the meaning of the reforms we have recently introduced to harmonise and simplify tax rules and bring them up to the best international standards by reducing the tax burden on VSEs and SMEs, which are our best growth drivers.

Actually, at a time when the old and new economies are colliding - as you, dear Klaus Schwab, so clearly saw in your premonitory book “The Fourth Industrial Revolution” - when we would have liked them to combine, the issue of youth has become, more than ever, consubstantial with any coherent and inclusive development project.

This project reflects the one that Morocco aims to deploy by 2035, creating a stronger link between economic and social aspects, while consolidating the red thread of ecological transition, which is now required of us all.

Indeed, this ambition raises an essential question: how can we allow the market to release its creative energy and fulfil its social function while protecting our countries from another major crisis?

These are, in my opinion, the two essential questions, because we are faced with an obligation of fluidity so as not to jam the economic machine, but also with an obligation of increased vigilance in the face of the risks linked to the new economy.

We are, ladies and gentlemen, as you all know, at a turning point in our history. Perhaps the world only really entered the 21st century two decades after the year 2000, when we all feared the “Big Bug”...

This bug only happened in 2020 when the world economy was put under a bell because of the virus, and a tremendous acceleration of history forced us to face the shortcomings and the strength lines of the new, emerging economic model.

But overall, the lesson we can collectively learn is that the world is no longer to be dominated, but to be shared.

This is the meaning of the Moroccan project for a solidary, sustainable society based on the Vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, who calls for the establishment of an equal partnership with our partners.

In this global but unequal debate, we wish to play our part fully, by highlighting Morocco’s unique experience.

Today I therefore reiterate my full and complete availability, as well as that of the members of His Majesty the King's Government, to open a dialogue with you which will, I hope, lead to the creation of shared value.

Thank you for your attention.