Morocco and Spain have signed a cooperation agreement on the implementation of the project “Support for the consolidation of Industrial Technical Centers (CTI) as platforms at the service of industrial companies to increase their productivity, quality, innovation and their integration within the sectors”.
The agreement was signed this Thursday, December 1 by the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, the Spanish Ambassador to Morocco, Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, the General Coordinator of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for development (AECID) in Morocco, Ignacio Martinez Boluda and the Managing Director of Maroc PME, Brahim Arjdal, the convention, indicates the ministry.
As part of cooperation with the AECID, this project, which benefits from Spanish financial support, aims to provide Moroccan CTIs with technical assistance and expertise recognized by Spain.
According to Ryad Mezzour, “this cooperation project aligns perfectly with our ambitions to develop our CTIs, their services to manufacturers, more particularly in the fields of innovation and industrial R&D. CTIs are now called upon to further support our country’s industry with a view to optimizing technological development there”.
CTIs are “real levers for the competitiveness of industrial companies, the creation of value and qualified employment and the improvement of the country’s technological level. These are essential factors in strengthening the industrial, food and health sovereignty of our country,” he added.
For his part, Díez-Hochleitner affirmed that “this program must indeed be a model of modern Hispano-Moroccan cooperation based on partnership in fundamental areas such as innovation, research and development and the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs which are at the heart of economic and social development for the promotion of job creation. Spain is particularly pleased with the signing of this convention at a time when we have begun a new stage of revitalizing relations between our two Kingdoms”.
In accordance with this cooperation agreement, the two parties have agreed to strengthen institutional relations between Spain and Morocco through partnerships between the Moroccan Technical Centers and their network (RECTIM) and their Spanish counterparts and to establish the mechanisms transfer of technology relating to innovation, certification and labeling (labelling) of products.
This cooperation also concerns the improvement of the capacity of the CTI laboratories by equipping them in particular with additional and specific equipment and by ensuring a transfer of knowledge between the Spanish and Moroccan centres.
This project will also enable the CTIs to improve their visibility at the national level, through their network, and to facilitate the bringing together of the centers with industrial companies.