Morocco’s King calls for vigilance ‘at this stage’

Rabat – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI called for vigilance ‘at this stage’ and commitment to continue supporting the healthcare sector in a speech delivered on Friday from his Royal Palace in Rabat to parliament on occasion of the opening of the autumn session..

The healthcare sector has been under huge strain due a spike of the coronavirus pandemic in the last three months after the government eased lockdown measures to help revive the economy.

Morocco's daily coronavirus cases surged to an all-time high on Friday, with authorities reporting 3,445 new infections, pushing the overall total to 146,389, one day after the government extended the public health state of emergency until November 10.

"What matters most, at this stage, is to be vigilant, commit to preserving the health and safety of citizens, and continue supporting the healthcare sector," said King Mohammed VI via the videoconference, a first in the country’s history.

The monarch said that tackling this unprecedented crisis exacerbated by the pandemic required across-the-board mobilisation in the North African kingdom and concerted efforts by all stakeholders, including parliament, to rise to the challenge.

"Ours is a common responsibility; either we succeed, all of us together, for the sake of the homeland and the well-being of the citizens, or we don’t," said the monarch.

"I am confident, however, that we shall all rise to this challenge, in keeping with the spirit of national unity and social solidarity," he added.

King Mohammed VI said that he expects the “Mohammed VI Investment Fund", which he asked to be set up to help enhance the economic stimulus plan, to play a pivotal role in promoting investment and boosting the country’s economy.

“The fund will support productive sectors and will finance and provide assistance to major projects within the framework of public-private partnerships,” said the king.

“The fund will focus its interventions on specialised sectoral funds affiliated with it. Its interventions are to be decided in light of the priorities identified for each phase, taking into account the specific needs of each sector,” he said.

The monarch also highlighted the importance of supporting agriculture and rural development under the economic recovery plan.

“Needless to say, in the current circumstances, support must be given to this highly important sector. Moreover, the implementation of all farming projects should be accelerated,” he said.

“These measures should boost investment, promote employment, contribute to the development of our agricultural production and facilitate the integration of professionals in rural areas, in line with the new farming strategy,” he said.

The agricultural sector has been badly impacted by an exceptional drought and is expected to decline by 5.3%, according to the central bank.

King Mohammed VI said that putting one million hectares of communal agricultural land at the disposal of investors and rights holders was key element of that strategy with an expected investment of 38 billion dirhams ($267 million).