Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

France is Morocco’s leading bilateral lender, with $163 million in net payments in 2009, i.e. more than 25% of total net bilateral public aid from the DAC/OECD countries. France’s total contribution to the development aid given to Morocco, including through international organizations, was about €260M in 2008, i.e. 40% of total aid from the OECD.

Our cooperation is in line with the following framework:
 the priorities defined by the Interministerial Committee on International Cooperation and Development (CICID) and the guidelines established during the annual meetings of the Prime Ministers;
 the partnership agreement of 24 July 2003 creating the steering and guidance council (COPP) for the Franco-Moroccan partnership;
 the Framework Partnership Document (DCP) signed on 13 June 2006, establishing the strategic guidelines of our programming.

In the area of education, the 30 French institutions in Morocco (including 23 institutions of the Agence pour l’enseignement français à l’étranger - Agency for French Teaching Abroad) have more than 28,000 students, half of whom are Moroccan. The French cultural network, composed of eight French Institutes (Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Meknès, Oujda, Rabat, Tangier), three annexes (Kenitra, Larache, Tetouan) and three Alliances françaises (El Jadida, Essaouira and Safi), ensures an active, significant presence in the country. The 24,000 Moroccan students are the biggest contingent of foreign students in France.

The French language enjoys the status of being a genuine second language in Morocco (an estimated 40% of the population can speak French). Our support for French, favouring teacher training, is intended to strengthen this position.

Morocco is the leading beneficiary of assistance from the Agence française de développement (AFD, French Development Agency). Today, the AFD’s net contributions stand at €1.7b (including €300M in commitments from Proparco, private subsidiary of the AFD group), primarily in the sectors of water, the environment and socio-economic infrastructures; they have also recently focused on the areas of education and professional training. On the occasion of the meetings of heads of government in December 2006, the AFD’s financing budget for the period 2007-2009 has been increased to €460M, to which a ceiling of €100M in non-sovereign assistance would be added.

^{Updated on : 23.06.10}