Moroccan government seeks to promote scientific research

In the latest move to promote national development, the Moroccan government pledged last week to provide new support for scientific research in the kingdom. Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi announced the initiative during the thirteenth board meeting of the National Centre for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) in Rabat on May 5th.

According to a statement issued by the prime minister's office, the government has increased the volume of its loans to the National Fund for Scientific Research and Technological Development over the past two years to 25 million dirhams. A further 50 million dirhams was contributed in 2007 for research by telecommunications operators.

This followed previous contributions of 52 million dirhams in 2005 and 32 million dirhams in 2006.

El Fassi said that promoting scientific research is now essential for sustainable development in priority sectors, "such as the environment, water management, energy, food processing, medicinal and aromatic plants, fish stocks, mining products, and agricultural produce."

"The new approach will lend support to the massive projects that Morocco has embarked on in several different sectors, such as the National Industrial Development Plan, the Plan Azur for the promotion of tourism and the National Energy Strategy," said the head of the CNRST's science and technology department, Abdelaziz Benjouad.

The government's new strategy is aimed at strengthening science infrastructures, the financial management of research activities, and basic and ongoing training. The objective is to keep up with the pace of technological development and to foster a culture of entrepreneurship within the academic community.

The prime minister stressed that the idea is to make universities independent in order to boost scientific research and help them pilot their own policies at both the regional and local levels.

"Under the Emergency Education and Training Plan, 183 million dirhams would be spent on scientific research running costs," Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmed Akhchichine said at the meeting.

"Investments totalling 69 million dirhams would be made in 2009 – an increase of 5 million dirhams over 2008."

The minister explained that there are a number of hurdles to overcome. One important task is to provide incentives to students by means of a scholarship programme for scientific research. The private sector must play a role in financing the sector, he asserted. The government is hoping that investors will provide co-financing equating to more than 25% for sectors regarded as priorities for Moroccan development. Akhchichine stated that the current co-financing proportion is just 12%.

Offering incentives to companies is another necessary step. It is hoped that the system will be modelled on an existing scheme involving telecoms operators, which are bankrolling ICT projects at research institutions and universities.

"In France, scientific research constitutes a sizeable source of income for schools," explained engineer Ahmed Boudani. "Research contracts are entered into directly with companies interested in development, whereas in Morocco, scientific research is regarded as a drain on the budgets of schools and universities. If we had well-organised research bodies, the private sector would take an interest."