Delegation Meets with GoI and GoK Ministers to discuss strategic bilateral collaborations
Morocco keen to learn from Indian Education System and Digitization Journey
Bengaluru June 6, 2022: In an effort to strengthen Moroccan-Indian relations in the digital sector, a Moroccan delegation headed by Her Excellency Dr. Ghita Mezzour, Minister of Digital Transition and Administration Reform, and along with representatives of the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments and Exports and of MedZ (leader in Morocco in the development and management of business parks in industry, offshoring and tourism) held meeting with Mr. Rajiv Chandrashekar, Hon. Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Information Technology and Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Hon. Chief Minister Mr. Basavaraj Bommai, and Minister of Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation of Karnataka, Mr J. C. Madhuswamy and Dr.C N Ashwathnarayan, Hon. Minister of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Higher Education, Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka.
These meetings were an occasion to showcase the attractiveness of Morocco, which is in the top 3 outsourcing destinations in Africa, with highly qualified English speaking IT talents, competitive salaries, as well as a strategic geographical proximity to Europe, and its status as a gateway to the African continent and markets.
In that regard, prior to visiting Bengaluru, Dr. Ghita Mezzour and Mrs. Roshni Nadar Malhotra, President of HCL Technologies signed, in the city of Noida, a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in coding and IT fields with HCL. This ceremony took place in the presence of Mr. Mohamed Maliki, Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Morocco to the Republic of India, representatives of the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments and Exports and MedZ.
The Moroccan delegation visit to India was also an occasion to touch on the Indian experience regarding the digitization of public services.
“Within the next four years, all public services in Morocco must be digitalized. Our visit to India is primarily to strengthen good strategic and political relationships, to study the Indian digitization process and the education system in India and to position Morocco as a perfect outsourcing partner, said Dr Mezzour. We are looking at Indian companies to set up operations in Morocco. We are also very keen to explore training opportunities in the digital field between the two countries. Our meetings with officials from the Government of India and Government of Karnataka were fruitful and led to the commitment to expand strategic relationships in outsourcing, startups, and education. They showed considerable interest to take things forward.” added Her Excellency Dr. Ghita Mezzour, Minister of Digital Transition and Administration Reform.
As part of their learning experience regarding the fostering of startup ecosystems, the delegation also visited NASSCOM Centre of Excellence, which represents the largest technology innovation ecosystem in India, and which brings together startups, innovators, companies and government authorities. This institution aims to accelerate the establishment of solutions aimed at addressing real-world challenges, using technologies such as IoT, AI, data science, Big Data, AR/VR, machine learning, and robotics. The visit enabled the Moroccan delegation to explore the achievements of the startups supported within the framework of the Center of Excellence and discuss opportunities for exchanges between the ecosystems of startups in Morocco and India.
The Moroccan delegation paid a visit as well to the International Institute of Information Technologies to explore the research in the IT industry and discuss ways for future collaborations.
It is to mention that this visit to India comes in line with the Royal Vision of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, who called for promoting Morocco as a preferred destination for foreign investments in new markets such as India.
NB: Dr. Ghita Mezzour is the Moroccan Minister in charge of Digital Transition and Administration Reform. Prior to her appointment, she worked as an entrepreneur and as an academic on developing digital solutions that have strong socio-economic impact. She holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s and a Bachelor’s from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Dr. Mezzour has received multiple international awards for her work.
