MOROCCO, July 14 - President of the Moroccan Employers’ Association (CGEM), Chakib Alj, held, Wednesday, a series of meetings with European officials, focusing on ways to strengthen the role of the private sector in the development of EU-Morocco relations.

During this visit, which marks for the CGEM the establishment of its new European office, Alj discussed with his interlocutors the international situation and the importance of combining the efforts of partners, both in Morocco and in Europe, to meet the many current challenges.

"In the midst of a difficult global economic context marked by an exit from the crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic and by a great inflation of food and energy prices, allies and close partners should join forces to face the common challenges,'' said Chakib Alj.

This imperative is, according to him, "particularly true in the Mediterranean, where the socio-economic, migration, security and climate issues are very important and whose solution requires the contribution of all, including that of businesses".

Alj met during this visit, the president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Christa Schweng, to explore opportunities for cooperation on socio-economic issues, especially youth employment, and the vice-president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, to discuss the EU's digital agenda and mechanisms to be implemented to further promote inter-company relations for the digitization of Mediterranean value chains.

He also held talks with Antonio Lopez Isturiz White, MEP and secretary general of the European People's Party, on the importance of modernizing the Morocco-EU Association Agreement to unlock the full economic potential of this cooperation and strengthen Mediterranean and African economic integration.

The CGEM and its European counterpart BusinessEurope, had issued a joint statement last September calling on the EU institutions to modernize the EU-Morocco trade agreement.

MAP 13 July 2022