On this occasion, the Wali of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, Mohamed Yacoubi, stated that the preparation for the second National Conference on Advanced Regionalisation serves as an opportunity to assess the progress of this project and to reflect on the mechanisms and steps that should be taken with a view to achieving a model of "pure advanced Moroccan regionalisation".
Mr. Yacoubi recalled the contents of the Royal Message addressed to the participants in the first conference on advanced regionalisation, which provided a precise diagnosis of the state of advanced regionalisation and an analysis of the broad guidelines for the next phase in the implementation process, stressing the importance of strengthening the role of the regions and increasing the effectiveness of their exercise of various competencies to enable them to meet the needs of the population.
He highlighted that these efforts aim to invest all the energies and resources that would enable the Kingdom to win the bet of regional development and contribute to reducing disparities, and improving the attractiveness and competitiveness of the territorial area, in a way that enhances the response to the aspirations of citizens, considering that this also requires opening up to modern mechanisms of financial governance and fostering participatory democracy in all its forms, making it a lever for integrated and sustainable economic and social development.
The Wali of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region confirmed that advanced regionalisation represents an indispensable strategic choice for Morocco; it is not merely a mode of management and organisation, but also a gateway to achieving development in its various dimensions and strengthening local democracy due to the opportunities it provides for citizen participation in the preparation and implementation of public policies.
For his part, the President of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Regional Council, Rachid El Abdi, highlighted that the regions have become a fundamental and central actor in the various strategies that aim to grant these regions leadership in driving territorial public policies and in deepening representative and participatory democracy, noting that this role is reinforced by the Constitution and the relevant legal and regulatory arsenal, in addition to the adoption of an integrated and sustainable development approach combined with the rules of good territorial governance.
While reviewing the various stages of implementing advanced regionalisation, Mr. El Abdi emphasised that the regionalisation project is not a short- or medium-term project, but rather a project to be achieved in the long term, as evidenced by the experiences of other countries such as Spain and France.
He explained that the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region is the second region in the Kingdom in terms of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, given its important position within the national economic fabric and the diverse qualifications that enable it to achieve development in multiple fields and improve the living conditions of the population.
Mr. El Abdi considered that these achievements are only "the beginning of a long path that requires the concerted efforts and continued cooperation between all parties concerned" to implement the goals of advanced regionalisation in its comprehensive dimensions.
For his part, the Director General of Services at the Regional Council administration, Ahmed El Kial, addressed the most prominent points that the participants in this meeting will focus on, which primarily centre on the challenges of promoting the attractiveness of territorial areas, productive investment as a lever for economic competitiveness, the challenges of financing regional development programmes, water governance in light of current challenges, and the development of a sustainable transport and mobility system, as well as digital transformation at the territorial level as a lever to accelerate the expanded regionalisation project.
In this regard, he said that the territorial actors participating in the meeting will work on formulating recommendations that will be included in a summary report to be presented to a scientific committee at the end of the meeting, calling on them to take into account realism and feasibility, while ensuring clarity and precision, to facilitate the adoption of the recommendations and their organisation in the final report.
This regional communication meeting aims to share the general framework of the second edition of the National Conference on Advanced Regionalisation with territorial actors, to consolidate the participatory approach in all stages of preparing the conference, and to deepen the study of the problems of its themes by linking them to the accumulations of experience and field practice, in addition to proposing preliminary recommendations consistent with the themes of the conference with the aim of including them in its general recommendations.
It is noteworthy that this regional meeting is attended by a number of officials, including governors of provinces and prefectures, presidents of commune councils, presidents of prefecture and provincial councils, and presidents of professional chambers, in addition to representatives of deconcentrated services and members of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Regional Council.
