Responding to a central question on "public policies in the economic, social and digital sectors in the light of the lessons learned from the repercussions of the health crisis linked to Covid-19", during the monthly general policy session at the House of Advisors, El Otmani said that the Kingdom, under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, represents a model in the fight against the pandemic, either at the level of preventive measures put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus or the decisions taken to combat its repercussions.

As regards support for the economy, El Otmani noted that it is a question of accelerating, reviving and reinvigorating the national economy in the light of the challenges and opportunities of this health crisis, highlighting the economic vision deployed by the government to deal with the negative repercussions of the novel coronavirus in the short and medium term, concretized in particular by the Amended Finance Bill and the broad outlines of an economic recovery plan, while in the long term, the post-coronavirus lessons will be closely linked to the development of the Kingdom's new development model.

Concerning tourism, he stressed that the government has an action plan which was elaborated in a participative way with the concerned actors, aiming at preserving the tourist fabric and employment, accelerating the phase of resumption of tourist activities and putting in place the foundations of the sustainable transformation of the sector, on the basis of consultations between the various ministerial departments, through the implementation of the road map for the period 2020-2022.

On the rehabilitation and integration of the informal sector, which accounts for 20 per cent of GDP and offers more than 2.4 million job opportunities, he said that the State has provided a minimum income to households in the informal sector, in addition to self-employed persons whose economic activity has ceased.

As for the component related to the promotion of the social sectors, he indicated that the government continues its efforts to support the education and health sectors and the reform of the social protection system, considering that the conditions of the health crisis are more conducive to speeding up the implementation of this project, through the reform of RAMED (health insurance regime for the poor and vulnerable population) and the extension of basic health coverage, as well as the pension scheme to cover all targeted categories with a view to achieving a 90% coverage rate within a reasonable time frame.

Regarding the acceleration of the digital transformation, the head of government focused on the prospects of this project through five key directions based on the upholding of Morocco's positioning as a digital and technological hub of reference at the level of Africa, the encouragement of job creation by developing the skills of digital trades, the establishment of a digital administration to serve citizens and businesses and the promotion of a competitive economy through the development of the performance that can achieve digital technology, among others.

These orientations will be implemented through 11 national programs spread over three years and aimed in particular at achieving three key objectives, namely supporting the creation of more than 120,000 direct and indirect jobs, attracting more than 10 billion dirhams of foreign direct investment and ranking Morocco first at the regional and African level, he stressed.