Mr. Mohamed BENCHAABOUN, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Administration Reform took part in the 14th High Level Meeting Morocco-France (RHN) held in Paris on December 19, 2019 as part of a high-level Moroccan delegation chaired by the Head of Government. The RHN is a high level biennial meeting of two governments, established in 1997 between Morocco and France, to examine issues of common interest and to chart the roadmap for bilateral cooperation in various fields.
Ms. Faouzia ZAABOUL, Director of the Treasury and External Finance and Mr. Abdelali EDDEBBAGH, Assistant to the Director in the same Directorate, in charge of the Department of African and European Relations, accompanied the Minister to this event.
Besides taking part in this High Level Meeting, the Minister had, alongside Mr. Moulay Hafid ELALAMY, the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Trade and Green and Digital Economy, bilateral discussions with their counterpart Mr. Bruno LE MAIRE, French Minister of Economy and Finance.
The Ministers highlighted the sound and dynamic economic relations between Morocco and France and also discussed the constraints facing the economies of the two countries, while stressing the need for Morocco and France to build together a competitiveness allowing the two countries to meet common challenges.
In this context, they supported the idea of exploring new levers to encourage fresh bilateral relations and strengthen the partnership for the shared good of Morocco and France and for better competitiveness with a view to creating more added value and employment in both countries as well as to encourage partnerships between the private sectors of the two countries in their development in Africa.
At the end of their meeting, the Ministers welcomed the frank and fruitful debate that characterized their meeting which was structured around all areas of bilateral cooperation and affirmed their desire to further strengthen their cooperation.
Mr. BENCHAABOUN, Mr. ELALAMY and Mr. LE MAIRE co-chaired, at the end, a signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement between the Moroccan Deposit and Management Fund (Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion) and the French Deposits Fund (Caisse des Dépôts) to further strengthen their partnership as well as the technical assistance contract between the Moroccan Central Guarantee Fund (CCG) and ACCET-StarLabs France for the support of structures recognized by the CCG as part of the "Innov Invest Fund".
The Minister also proceeded, at the end of the RHN, to the signing of a credit agreement of 150 million euros, with the French Development Agency, to help finance the implementation of the National Plan for the promotion of employment in three pilot regions: Souss Massa (Agadir), Rabat-Salé-Kenitra and Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima.
Moreover, and on the sidelines of this 14th High Level Meeting, the Treasury and External Finance Department participated in the "Morocco France Economic Meeting" organized by CGEM and MEDEF around the theme "Let's innovate together: For a new economic and social momentum".