Morocco, represented by Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation Abdellatif Miraoui, and the European Union (EU) represented by EU’s Ambassador to Morocco, Patricia Llombart Cussac, on Wednesday signed a 490 million MAD program to support Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Mobility.
The deal program aligns with the National Plan for Accelerating the Transformation of the Higher Education, Scientific Research, and Innovation Ecosystem (ESRI 2030 Pact) to assist Moroccan universities in strengthening and internationally expanding higher education, research and innovation.
The Program aims to promote the mobility of PhD students in European universities through a grant of 50.42 million MAD, as well as to further strengthen human, academic and scientific links between Moroccans and Europeans.
At the signing event, Miraoui hailed “the exemplary cooperation” between Morocco and the EU in the sector of higher education. He also noted that under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, the development of human capital was a core priority for Morocco and an essential leverage for its international influence.
“The European Union supports Morocco’s efforts as it embarks on an ambitious national plan to make higher education more international and to boost research and innovation by providing mobility opportunities for students, graduates, researchers, and teachers to pursue their doctoral studies, as well as supporting the government’s aspirations to caryy out the ESRI 2030 PACT,” Cussac noted in her remarks.