HM the King appoints Taib Fassi Fihri his advisor

Rabat  -  HM King Mohammed VI has appointed Taib Fassi Fihri as his advisor in the Royal Cabinet, the Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol and Chancellery announced on Monday in a statement.

The statement said the appointment came in view of the experience Taib Fassi Fihri, outgoing Foreign Minister, has accumulated in discharging the missions entrusted to him and his abnegation in fulfilling them.

In 1980, Fassi Fihri , who was born on 9 April 1958 in Casablanca, obtained a diploma in statistcs application from the Institut national de la statistique et d'économie appliquée (INSEA) of Rabat.

A year later, he obtained a master’s degree in public economics and planning from the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris. In 1984, he obtained PhD in economic analysis and policy from the Institut d'études politiques in Paris.  

Fassi Fihri had held several posts in the ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation, before he was appointed as secretary of state for foreign affairs in November 1999.

He was appointed in charge of a mission in the Royal Cabinet in 1998.

In November 2002, he was appointed by HM King Mohammed VI minister delegate to the minister of foreign affairs and cooperation. In 2007, he became minister of foreign affairs and cooperation.

Source: @Map (Maghreb Arabe Presse) ,Last modified : 02 January 2012

HM the King appoints new cabinet

Rabat, HM King Mohammed VI, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, appointed, on Tuesday in the Royal Palace in Rabat, the new cabinet.

Here are the members of the cabinet:

- Abdelilah Benkirane: Head of the Government.

- Abdellah Baha: State Minister.

- Mohand Laenser : Minister of the Interior .

- Saad-Eddine El Othmani: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

- Mustafa Ramid: Minister of Justice and Liberties.

- Ahmed Toufiq: Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs.

- Driss Dahak: Secretary-General of the Govenment.

- Nizar Baraka : Minister of Economics and Finance.

- Nabil Benabdellah: Minister of Housing, Town Planning and Urban Policy.

- Aziz Akhannouch: Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

- Mohamed El Ouafa: Minister of National Education.

- Lahcen Daoudi: Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training

- Mohamed Ouzzine: Minister of Youth and Sports.

- Aziz Rabbah: Minister of Equipment and Transport.

- El Hossein El Ouardi: Minister of Health.

- Mustapha El Khalfi: Minister of Communications, spokesman for the Government.

- Fouad Douiri: Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment.

- Abdelouahed Souhail: Minister of Labour and Vocational Training.

- Abdelkader Aâmara: Minister of Industry, Trade and New Technologies.

- Lahcen Haddad: Minister of Tourism.

- Bassima Hakkaoui : Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development.

- Mohamed Amine Sbihi : Minister of Culture.

- Abdessamad Qaiouh : Minister of Handicrafts.

- Lahbib Choubani : Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament and Civil Society.

- Abdellatif Loudiyi: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in charge of the Administration of National Defense.

- Abdellatif Maazouz: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in Charge of the Moroccans Living Abroad.

-  Charki Draiss: Minister Delegate to the Interior Minister.

- Youssef Amrani: Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

- Mohamed Najib Boulif: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in charge of General Affairs and Governance.

- Abdelâdim El Guerrouj: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in Charge of Civil Service and the Administration Modernization.

- Idriss Azami Al Idrissi: Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economics and Finance in Charge of the Budget.

The cabinet took the oath before HM the King.

Last modified : Map, 03 January 2012

HM the King enquires about economizing water programme in irrigated areas in Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz

Rural commune of Saâda (Marrakech) - HM King Mohammed VI enquired, on Thursday in the rural commune of Saâda (province of Marrakech), about the economizing water project in irrigated areas in the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region, carried out with a budget of about 6.5 billion dirhams.

-    The programme concerns 97,300 ha and benefits 25,000 farmers

-    The programme will contribute to developing modern high value-added agriculture

-    HM the King launches project of reconversion into drip irrigation

The wide-ranging programme, which benefits 25,000 farmers, consists of reconverting traditional irrigation systems into drip irrigation on a surface area of 97,300 hectares.

The programme, which is being carried out as part of Morocco’s Green Plan, will contribute to developing modern high value-added agriculture, while enhancing rational, sustainable management of water resources.

It is expected to raise irrigation efficiency from 50% to 90% and increase the production value per hectare from 19,000 dirhams to 42,000 dirhams yearly, thus improving farmers’ income.

On this occasion, HM the King launched the reconversion project into drip irrigation in a sector falling within the scope of the first phase of the water economizing project.

Worth 260 million dirhams, the project concerns a total area of 4,300 hectares and is to benefit 2,000 farmers.

It consists of building a water irrigation station, setting up 146 kilometres of pressure conduits and outfitting farms with drip irrigation material.

The project, which is due for completion in 2013, will raise production value per hectare from 19,000 dirhams to 45,000 dirhams a year.

Source: @Map, Last modified : 29 December 2011

HM the King inaugurates a wastewater treatment and re-use project in Marrakech 29 December 2011

Marrakech - HM King Mohammed VI inaugurated, on Thursday in Marrakech, a wastewater treatment and re-use project in the city, carried out for a total cost of 1.23 billion dirhams.

-    The project is the first of its kind in Morocco and Africa

-    The project will benefit a population of over 1.3 million.

 -    The plant will annually treat 33 cubic meters of alternative water.

The Monarch visited the different facilities of the new project that will contribute to the urban development of Marrakech by treating the whole of the city’s waste water (120,000 cubic meters per day), eliminating olfactory elements, reducing greenhouse gas emission and preserving water resources.

Under this leading project at national and continental levels, a purifying plant will be set up on an area spanning over 17 hectares with a treatment capacity of 1,300,000 people’s production of waste water.

The project also provides for the creation of a network for the re-use of purified water consisting of five pumping stations and 80 kilometres of pipes.

In line with international norms and standards, the new purifying plant uses state-of-the-art technologies and adopts the “activated sludge” purification procedure followed by filtration and fumigation with ultraviolet and chlorine.

The plant will produce 33 million of cubic metres of alternative water annually, which represents over half of the water consumed by the city’s population. This water will be used in irrigating green spaces notably in 19 golf courses which will receive 23 million cubic meters of water annually.

The plant is equipped with a laboratory and sludge digestion units. The digested sludge will produce 20,000 normal cubic metres daily of biogas which will generate 30,000 kilowatt-hour daily, that is 45% of the energy needs of the plant.

The use of biogas in the plant will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by preventing the release of 60,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Source: @Map,Last modified : 30 December 2011