Pilot economic projects and low development indicators .. Does Morocco find a development model that suits its expectations?

Maryam Al-Taidi-Rabat

While Morocco is witnessing the launching and launching of a series of major economic projects, and the news that it is leading the way in a range of fields, there has been a conviction among Moroccans that the country is moving at multiple speeds. It is witnessing an important economic dynamism, while its growth is barely affected by this dynamism, Social development indicators are low and below popular expectations.

The Kingdom witnessed the opening of pioneering economic projects, the most recent being a port in Tangier which is the largest in the Mediterranean in terms of container capacity and the largest in Africa. Before that, King Mohammed VI presided over the opening of the largest automaker, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles and associated engine.

The financial center of Casablanca was the first in Africa and second in the Arab world. Morocco also built Africa's longest suspended bridge over 950 meters above the Abu Barqraq River between Rabat and Salé, the launch of the high-speed train, the largest power plant Clean, and other major economic projects that have made the Kingdom in the ranks of promising economies.

Something is missing
According to the latest Economic Outlook issued by the High Commissioner for Planning in Morocco (a public institution), the Moroccan economy is expected to grow by 2.6% in the second quarter of this year.

The public institution expected the Moroccan economy to slow to 2.4% growth in the third quarter of 2019, down from 3% in the same period last year.

In addition to low growth rates, Morocco is in the position of African countries making significant progress in the implementation of the global goals of sustainable development, living in the wake of successive protests on social services and the standard of living, and an open debate about the decline of the educational system.

"If what Morocco has achieved and what has been achieved for Moroccans over two decades is a source of satisfaction and pride, I feel at the same time that something is lacking in the social sphere," King Mohammed VI said in a speech to the throne last year.

The paradox
"The problem in depth is that Morocco is making a great effort at the level of investment, which exceeds 30% of the gross income, but its reflection on the level of growth remains weak," says economist Abdel Nabi Abu-Arab. "The paradox is at the heart of the economic, .

Commenting on Al-Jazeera Net, Abu Al-Arab added that officials and politicians are aware of this and know that there are major challenges, especially social unrest.

For his part, economic analyst Rashid Oraz said that the level of investment in what is known as major projects is not reflected on the development indicators, and its contribution to growth is not effective.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Oraz said that when the state adopts the development approach, it believes that the state bureaucracy is capable of creating development. However, this approach does not guarantee the return of returns to the citizen, and there is no guarantee of the arrival of fruits to all regions.

Why?
The King of Morocco declared that "the development model of the Kingdom has become unable to meet the needs of the Moroccan citizen." He added in his speech that "Moroccans today need balanced and equitable development that guarantees dignity for all."

Moroccan economists believe that the path chosen by the Kingdom to achieve its objectives requires - along with a strong infrastructure - wisdom, exploitation of material and human capacities and rationalization of resources.

Abu al-Arab believes that Morocco has suffered for decades from the delay in investment in infrastructure, which is the necessary ground for the creation of production processes. He said that investments that produce wealth are smart investments with high added value that Morocco is still unable to carry out. The next stage is to create dynamic and dynamic industrial investments.

For his part, Rashid Oraz the need to besiege corruption and ensure good governance if Morocco wants to reflect its infrastructure projects on growth and development, stressing that the main enemy is corruption and the absence of management in a transparent manner.

Human capital
Abu al-Arab said that the field of education has greatly affected the quality of the ability of the Moroccan citizen to have full efficiency, stressing the importance of working on reforming the education system to improve and link them to the market.

The same thing is confirmed by Oraz, considering that education has become a black point, and was declared failure on the official level, and says, "Without reforming the educational system, and provide competencies and skills for the contracting and management, we will remain in the same vicious circle."