King Mohammed VI received, this Tuesday at the royal palace in Fez, the president of the ad hoc Committee on the Development Model (CSMD), Chakib Benmoussa who handed the sovereign a copy of the Commission’s report, the royal office said in a statement.
“The overhaul of the development model constitutes a new stage in the consolidation of the social project led by the Sovereign. It is also meant to strengthen the attachment to the values of positive and active citizenship, as well as the feeling of belonging to a nation and the affirmation of the historical and cultural Moroccan personality, rich with its millennial history, its tradition of openness and its multiple components,” the statement said.
Thus, in accordance with the mission entrusted to it, the Committee has adopted a multidimensional approach and rigorously framed its work. It was able, notably, to explore the new challenges and changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, in a multitude of strategic areas such as health, agriculture and food security, energy, and industrial and tourism development.
The King congratulated the President and the members of the Committee for the efforts made and the quality of the work accomplished, which is “the result of a broad participatory process of hearings, debates and collective intelligence around the renovation of the Moroccan development model.”
The Sovereign ordered the publication of the CSMD report and asked the Committee to carry out a vast operation of presentation and explanation of its conclusions and recommendations to citizens and the various stakeholders across all regions of the Kingdom.
In addition, the government and the different actors and institutions are invited, each in their area of expertise, to participate and actively contribute to the implementation of the relevant recommendations of this report, in order to serve the new ambition and the new development course, to meet the expectations of the Moroccan King and people, the statement pointed out.
In this regard, the innovative proposal of the CSMD, meant to turn the strategic elements of the new model into a “National Pact for Development”, should be retained and implemented in a constructive and consensual spirit, with a high sense of responsibility and taking into account the general interest, as a common frame of reference for all living forces in their diversity.
King Mohammed VI had appointed Chakib Benmoussa to head the CSMD on November 19, 2019. Three weeks later, the names of the committee’s 35 members were revealed. They included outstanding figures who have assumed governmental functions under the reigns of the late King Hassan II or Mohammed VI, such as Driss Jettou, who was then president of the Court of Auditors; Ahmed Reda Chami, President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council; and Mustapha Terrab, Chairman and CEO of OCP Group.
The Committee was due to submit its report in June 2020. However, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and in order to enable the committee to broaden its consultations, this deadline has been extended.