Nine objective contracts were signed on Tuesday in Rabat between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Industrial Technical Centers (CTI) for a planned investment of 300 million dirhams (MDH), during the 2023/26 period.
They aim to strengthen the capacity of CTI laboratories and set up new technical platforms, and will also allow a 165% increase in companies benefiting from CTI services, an increase of nearly 100% in employees, and more 156% of overall turnover, specifies the Industry Department.
Signed by the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, and the representatives of the Moroccan Federation of Building Materials (FMC), the Technical Center for Plastics and Rubber (CTPC), the Technical Center for Equipment Industries for vehicles (CETIEV), the Food Industry Center (CETIA), the Federation of Metallurgical, Mechanical and Electromechanical Industries (FIMME), the Technical Center for Textiles and Clothing (CTTH), the Moroccan Center for Leather Techniques ( CMTC), the Technical Center for Wood and Furniture Industries (CTIBA), and the Cereal Industries Study and Research Center (CERIC), these performance contracts are part of the framework agreement relating to the implementation of the 2023/26 CTI development plan.
The 2023/26 CTI development plan, it should be recalled, aims to strengthen the capacity of these centers and enable them to fully play their role as a technical and technological platform at the service of industrial companies.
They also aspire to ensure the breakdown of the overall objectives of the framework agreement into specific quantified objectives for each technical centre, the definition of the commitments of the CTIs and their professional Federations or Associations, as well as the operating principles of the CTI financing mechanism.
A budget envelope of 250 MDH is mobilized within the framework of the CTI development plan and will mainly finance the development of services relating to innovation and technical and technological improvement, the development of services related to standards and product certification.
It will also finance the implementation of specific partnership projects and CTI development projects, support for the start-up of CTIs in the phase of relaunching their activities and the establishment of new laboratories/platforms dedicated to support for new industrial activities within the framework of industrial, food and health sovereignty.
For Ryad Mezzour, the signing of these objective contracts is an opportunity to strengthen the capacities of the CTIs and enable them to be in phase with the development of the Moroccan industrial fabric. In this regard, the Minister stressed that this step comes in accordance with the directives of King Mohammed VI, calling for the establishment of support mechanisms and to expand their scope in order to strengthen technical and technological infrastructure and research and development.
For his part, the President of the Network of Moroccan CTIs (RECTIM), David Toledano, highlighted the importance of the contracts-objectives signed which constitute a turning point for the CTIs, insofar as they will give them a new orientation. In this sense, he noted that these contract-objectives will allow the CTIs to restructure and become more anchored in their respective industrial fabrics, through development projects while ensuring their mission of support and control.
It should be noted that the ceremony took place in the presence of the presidents of the federations and professional associations and the presidents of the Technical Centers.