Morocco

Visits

Visits to Morocco by prominent figures from France in 2018

Mr Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (Africities Summit in Marrakesh on 22 November and the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration on 10 December).

Mr Christophe Castaner, Minister of the Interior (15-16 November)

Mr Emmanuel Macron, French President (15 November)

Mr Gérard Larcher, President of the Senate, and Mr François de Rugy, President of the National Assembly (22-23 June)

Mr Olivier Dussopt, Minister of State attached to the Minister for Government Action and Public Accounts (21-23 June)

Mr Stéphane Travert, Minister of Agriculture and Food (22-24 April)

Mr François de Rugy, President of the National Assembly (14-15 January)

Visits to Morocco by prominent figures from France in 2017

Mr Edouard Philippe, Prime Minister (15-16 November) accompanied by:

• Ms Nicole Belloubet, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice
• Ms Françoise Nyssen, Minister of Culture
• Mr Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of National Education
• Ms Laura Flessel, Minister of Sport
• Ms Jacqueline Gourault, Minister attached to the Ministre d’État, Minister of the Interior
• Ms Elisabeth Borne, Minister of Transport attached to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition
• Ms Nathalie Loiseau, Minister for European Affairs, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
• Ms Brune Poirson, Minister of State attached to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition
• Ms Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister of State attached to the Minister for the Armed Forces
• Mr Benjamin Griveaux, Minister of State attached to the Minister of the Economy and Finance

Mr Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, Secretary General of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (15-16 October 2017)

Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (9 October 2017)

Mr Emmanuel Macron, French President (14 and 15 June 2017)

Mr Claude Bartolone, President of the National Assembly and Ms Elisabeth Guigou, Chair of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee (12 April, Rabat)

Ms Martine Pinville, Minister of State for Commerce, Small-Scale Industry, Consumer Affairs and the Social and Solidarity Economy (29 March, Rabat)

Ms Myriam El Khomri, Minister of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue (2 February, Rabat)

Visits to Morocco by prominent figures from France in 2016

Mr François Hollande, President of the French Republic (15 and 16 November, Marrakesh)

Mr Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development (9 September 2016)

Mr Jean-Marc Todeschini, Minister of State for Veterans and Remembrance (7 September, Rabat)

Mr Jean-Marc Baylet, French Minister of Town and Country Planning, Rural Affairs and Local Government (26 July 2016)

Ms Ségolène Royal, French Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy (23 June, Rabat)

Mr Claude Bartolone, President of the National Assembly (13 June, Rabat)

Ms Elisabeth Guigou, Chair of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee (12 and 13 May 2016)

Mr Stéphane Le Foll, Minister of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry, Government Spokesperson (27-29 April, Meknes and Rabat).

Mr Jean-Vincent Place, Minister of State for State Reform and Simplification (19 April, Rabat)

Mr Harlem Désir, Minister of State for European Affairs (18 April, Rabat)

Mr Alain Vidalies, Minister of State for Transport, Marine Affairs and Fisheries (31 March-1 April, Rabat and Casablanca)

Ms Ségolène Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy (4 February, Ouarzazate)

Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee (21-22 January, Rabat)

Visits to France by prominent figures from Morocco in 2018

Mohammed VI, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, and Mr Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (11 November)

Mr Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (31 October 2018)

Mr Abdelouafi Laftit, Minister of the Interior (10 June)

Mr Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs (29 May)

Mr Mohamed Boussaid, Minister of Economy and Finance (25-26 April)

Mr Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests (23 January and 3 February)

Mr Moulay Hafid El Alamy, Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and the Digital Economy (3 February)

Mr Mohammed Aujjar, Minister of Justice (3 February)

Mr Mbarka Bouaida, Minister of State for Maritime Fisheries (3 February)

Ms Lamia Boutaleb, Minister of State for Tourism (3 February)

Visits to France by prominent figures from Morocco in 2017

His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco (2 May)

HRH Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco (22 March, Paris)

Mr Amine Sbihi, Minister of Culture and Communication (22 March, Paris)

Mr Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (15 January, Conference for Peace in the Middle East, Paris)

Visits to France by prominent figures from Morocco in 2016

Mr Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (7 April, 18 May, 3 June and 8 September)

Ms Hakima el Haite, Minister Delegate for the Environment (10 June, 8 September)

Mr Lahcen Sekkouri, Minister of Youth and Sports (10 June)

Mr Mohammed Hassad, Minister of the Interior (2 March)

HM King Mohammed VI visited Paris, accompanied by Mr Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Ms Hakima el Haite, Minister Delegate for the Environment (17 February 2016)

Mr Rachid Belmokhtar, Minister of National Education and Vocational Training from Morocco (28 January, for a seminar on the future of Euro-Mediterranean young people, UNESCO)

Mr Moulay Hafid El Alamy, Minister of Industry, Trade and New Technologies (28 January, UNESCO)

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Our cooperation is in line with the priorities set out by the Interministerial International Cooperation and Development Committee (CICID) and the guidelines established during high-level meetings between Heads of State and Government. A Partnership Agreement on Cultural Cooperation and Development was signed by the Prime Ministers on 25 July 2003 and entered into force in March 2010.

In the field of education, more than 39,000 students, over 66% of whom are Moroccan, attend the 39 French educational institutions in Morocco (including 23 schools of the Agency for French Teaching Abroad – AEFE). The Institut Français of Morocco has 12 locations (Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes, Oujda, Rabat, Kenitra, Tangiers, Tetuan, El Jadida, Essaouira), an Alliance Française and a Campus France office attached to the Institut Français of Rabat (IFR), thus ensuring a significant, active French presence in the country. The 38,000 Moroccan students in France are our leading cohort of international students.

The State visit in April 2013 paved the way for new partnership agreements between French and Moroccan higher education institutions. The most emblematic project is that for the creation of a French National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Fez, attached to the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez (UEMF) and granted the “Union for the Mediterranean” label. Other projects include a School of Architecture at the International University of Rabat, in cooperation with the Nancy School of Architecture (ENSAN); the Paris Est University Centre for Research and Higher Education (PRES-Paris Est), which welcomed its first students in October 2013; the Casablanca École Centrale (ECC) College of Engineering; a Mediterranean Institute for Logistics and Transport (IMLT) in Tangier, in partnership with the University of Valenciennes and the French École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées; an international technological university institute (IUT); a faculty of medicine within the University of Agadir; and a higher education institution modelled on the French Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM). The opening of the ESSEC Business School Africa-Atlantic campus in Rabat in 2016 illustrates the opportunities Morocco has to offer in the academic and business fields.

French is a genuine second language in Morocco. Our support for the teaching of French, which fosters trainer training and the opening of international classes, seeks to consolidate this position.

Morocco is the leading recipient of support from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), totalling €1.5 billion for the 2013-2017 period. Since 1991, the AFD has operated through its subsidiary Proparco, which is devoted to funding the private sector, as well as through the Centre for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies (CEFEB), based in Marseille, and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), for which the AFD provides the secretariat. The AFD focuses essentially on the sectors of water, the environment and socio-economic infrastructure, with an additional emphasis on the private sector, including by supporting modernization of SMEs.