This tribute took place during a meeting of the delegation of Bayt Mal Al-Quds, led by Mohamed Salem Cherkaoui, Thursday, with the deputy governor of Al-Quds, Abdullah Siam, in the presence of Adnan Al-Husseini, head of the department of Al-Quds affairs, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Raqi Ghazawneh, mayor of Al-Ram, and the directors general of the governorate.

Siam presented the Director of the Agency with an honorary shield in recognition of the Agency's blessed efforts in the Holy City and its support to many sectors.

Speaking on this occasion, the deputy governor of Al-Quds highlighted the conditions suffered by the inhabitants of the Holy City due to the occupation measures and violations against them, and the ways to support their resistance and presence in their land.

This meeting, which will take place at the headquarters of MAP in Rabat from 12:00, will be an opportunity to discuss measures planned under the Generation Green strategy, which consolidates the achievements of the Green Morocco Plan, particularly in terms of growth and sustainability of the agricultural sector.

It will also focus on the objectives set by this ambitious strategy to ensure food sovereignty and security in harmony with the potential offered by the regions and territories of the Kingdom.

The Forum will be broadcast live on MAP TV channel "M24" and its news radio "RIM-Radio", as well as via MAP-Live, on the website of the Agency "mapexpress.ma" and its Facebook account.

MAP Forum has become a platform for debate on current political, economic, cultural and social issues. It brings together representatives of public authorities and personalities from various backgrounds, as well as media representatives.

The Father of the Nation had passed away on the 10th of Ramadan of the year 1380 of the Hegira (February 26, 1961), only a few years after the accession of the Kingdom to independence at the price of a relentless struggle which allowed to free the Homeland from the yoke of colonialism.

The late Sovereign, who had dedicated his life to the struggle for the liberation of Morocco, had made all the sacrifices, including the exile to which he was forced together with the Royal Family by the colonial authorities, for the recovery of the full independence of his country.

Moroccans remember the long march of the country's liberation and the fight that the Liberator of the Nation led, on all fronts and in close symbiosis with his people, a Sovereign whose path was intimately linked to the struggle for the country's independence and the exercise of sovereignty and freedom for the Moroccan people.

In his relentless struggle for independence, the late King Mohammed V insisted on consultation and coordination with the National Movement, convinced that the recovery of sovereignty could not be the work of a single person or a single institution, but the fruit of a collective action based on faith and the effort of awareness and mobilization of the Moroccan people.

The culmination of this collective nationalist and patriotic action was the presentation, on January 11, 1944, of the Manifesto of Independence, a bold step that reflected the perfect symbiosis between the Throne, the national movement and the people, and constituted the first step on the road to liberation from the yoke of the protectorate.

On April 10, 1947, Sultan Mohammed Ben Youssef went to Tangier to deliver a resounding speech that would leave its mark on history and on people's minds. And for good reason, the Sovereign solemnly and explicitly formulated, for the first time, the claim of Morocco's independence, thus giving cold sweats to the colonial authorities who, pushed to their limits, were going to do hand and foot to regain control of the situation.

After the failure of all their scheming, blackmail and threats aimed at pressuring the late HM Mohammed V to give up the national struggle, the colonizer set up a sordid plot against the Sultan and the August Royal Family who were forced into exile in 1953, first in Corsica, then in Madagascar.

The sinister ploy of the occupier backfired. Aiming to cut the bridges between the late King and his loyal people, the deportation of Sultan Mohammed Ben Youssef further welded the people and the national movement behind him, triggered a wave of popular riots and armed actions against the colonial forces, and made independence the cause, no longer of an elite of nationalist politicians and intellectuals, but of a whole people mobilized behind their Sovereign.

This extraordinary epic of patriotism, bravery and loyalty was crowned by the triumphant return of the Father of the Nation and the August Royal Family to the Motherland, on November 16, 1955, and the announcement, one year later, of independence and the beginning of the "Great Jihad", that of the building of a new and modern Morocco.

After the recovery of the Kingdom's independence and in the same spirit of the Father of the Nation, His Majesty the late King Hassan II, companion of the hero of independence, continued the work of consolidating the achievements, by engaging in a large-scale program for the economic and social development of the country, before His worthy successor, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him, takes up the torch to continue the work of His predecessors with determination and abnegation.

Thus, His Majesty King Mohammed VI is committed, since His accession to the Throne of His Glorious Ancestors, to the consolidation of this great national project, thus making Morocco enter a new era of modernity and global development.

"The stable outlook on Morocco reflects our expectation that ongoing structural reforms will support robust economic growth and help counterbalance external and budgetary pressures", the credit rating agency pointed out in a report published Friday.

"Morocco's ongoing economic and fiscal reforms should pave the way for more inclusive growth, increased domestic and foreign private investment, and a gradual reduction in external and budget deficits," the report underlined.

The New York-based agency said that "the Moroccan economy has weathered several regional and global shocks over the past two decades while maintaining access to external and domestic financing."

S&P Global Ratings pointed to "robust growth prospects, supported by ongoing structural reforms, economic diversification, and public and private investment."

The agency forecast a steady rise in Morocco's GDP, by 3.5% in 2023 and 3.4% a year in 2024-2026.

"Our projections suggest that inflation will become more broad-based and will decelerate gradually to 4.5% in 2023 and 2% by 2026," it added.

"We forecast that Morocco's GDP will rise by 3.5% in 2023, bolstered by a rebound in agricultural output and robust performance by the country's main export-oriented sectors, including tourism, phosphates, automotive, and aerospace."

"Morocco's economic growth will benefit from the completion of additional large-scale projects, the expansion of Morocco's export capacity, the promotion of the private sector, and the implementation of socioeconomic reforms," the report stressed.

"A series of business-friendly reforms seeks to prioritize investment in digitalization and the modernization of the legal, institutional, and regulatory framework", the agency noted, adding that the Investment Charter, amended by the government at the end of 2022, "aims to increase the share of both domestic and foreign private investment to two-thirds of total investment by 2035, from approximately one-third currently".

"The authorities have also embarked on a comprehensive overhaul of the social security system to extend health care coverage and increase social transfers, while broadening the tax and social contribution bases," the report said.

This development is due to the increase in sales of all segments of the sector, namely, the construction segment (+44.7%), that of wiring (+43.8%) and that of the interior vehicles and seats (+20%), said the Office, which has published its monthly indicators of foreign trade.

In parallel, exports of electronics and electricity increased by 36.4% to MAD 3.65 billion to end February 2023. This development is explained, mainly, by the increase in sales of electronic components of 57.7% to 1.4 billion dirhams and those of wire and cable (+33.9% to 1.37 billion dirhams).

For their part, sales of textiles and leather recorded an increase of 15.1% for the two months of the year 2023, attributable to the increase in exports of ready-made garments (+18%), shoes (+20.6%), and to a lesser extent knitted items (+7.6%).

Exports of phosphates and derivatives amounted to 10.96 billion dirhams at the end of February 2023, against 14.68 billion dirhams at the end of February 2022. This evolution is explained by the decline in sales of natural and chemical fertilizers (-22.3%), phosphoric acid (-37.8%) and phosphates (-17.5%).

FDI receipts recorded an increase of 19.8% to nearly 5.03 billion dirhams, while expenditures fell by 17.2%, said the Office, which published its monthly indicators of foreign trade in February.

For the first two months of this year, Moroccan direct investment abroad stood at 3.24 billion dirhams, showing a slight decline of 2% compared to the same period in 2022.
 

Morocco has continued to promote gender equality as well as technology and innovations that can reduce the negative effects of the movement of women, said Alaoui M'Hammdi during an Iftar-debate jointly organized by the embassies of Morocco and Rwanda in the Ethiopian capital and dedicated to migration as a gender issue in relation to innovations and technologies for mitigation and sustainable development.

Morocco and Rwanda share a comprehensive understanding of the problems of migration, as well as know-how in innovations and digital technologies to mitigate the effects of the problems faced by migrant women, she said, noting that through its programs and initiatives, Morocco has undertaken commendable efforts in the fight against the negative effects of migration and in the empowerment of women.

The Moroccan diplomat added that the Kingdom, which is now a transit and host country, has developed an integrated legislative system that relies on a coherent operational arsenal in the approach to migration issues in various fields, ranging from women and children to employment legislation and access to justice.

The multidimensional approach with its preventive, humanitarian, legal and regulatory aspects, positions Morocco as a leading country not only at the continental level, but also at the internationally, she stressed, explaining that this approach is linked to a system of values on which the Kingdom relies to manage this complex problem.

The migration phenomenon, when well managed, will inevitably contribute to the global and sustainable development of countries of origin as well as destination, noted the Moroccan diplomat.

The Kingdom, under the visionary leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, has spared no effort, since the appointment of His Majesty the King as Leader of the migration issue by the 28th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, to defend the interests of African countries in the service of the issue of migration and migrants across the globe, through a clear agenda and a well-defined forward-looking vision of the migration phenomenon and its consequences.

Speaking at an open debate of the Security Council on the "implementation of development policies to silence arms in Africa", chaired Thursday by the Head of State of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, whose country holds the rotating presidency of this UN body, Hilale said that conflicts in Africa have mutated from a conventional pattern to the involvement of terrorist groups and separatists, threatening the territorial integrity of states, but also international peace and security.

He stressed the imperative of preventing these threats to increase the chances of silencing the weapons on the continent by 2030, including through the dismantling of structures of recruitment, financing, housing and indoctrination of terrorists.

Referring to Morocco's commitment in Africa, the ambassador said that the Kingdom has more than a thousand partnership agreements with sister African countries, as part of an active and active South-South cooperation, shaped by the enlightened vision of HM the King and His multiple tours in Africa.

He also highlighted the role of the Mohammed VI Institute of Imams, Morchidines and Morchidates which provides training to African preachers to counter obscurantist thinking and violent extremism.

During this meeting, the diplomat noted that Morocco, which currently sits on the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), remains convinced that there can be no security without development, nor development without security.

In this regard, the Kingdom, in accordance with the High Royal Directives, inscribes its action around the triptych peace, security and development to ensure the prevention and a fortiori the management of conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction, said Hilale, recalling that Morocco hosted the first political conference of the AU on the promotion of the Nexus peace, security and development, from 25 to 27 October in Tangier, which has allowed, according to him, to fructify a precursory debate on the challenges that still plague the march of Africa towards development, including food and health security challenges.

The Ambassador Permanent Representative of Morocco to the UN also pointed out that the Kingdom has submitted its national report for the year 2022 on progress made in the implementation of the AU Roadmap to silence arms in Africa by 2030, adding that this report supports the achievements and gains of the Kingdom in the various priority areas of the Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism of the Roadmap.

He also said that the international community should redouble its efforts to achieve the "realistic" goal of silencing arms in Africa by 2030, adding that it is necessary to address and resolve the root causes of conflicts. "Our actions should address security, economic, climate, religious and cultural challenges and other dimensions specific to the needs of security and stability on the African continent," he stressed.

In this regard, he called for combating poverty, hunger and social exclusion, through economic integration and development of Africa, especially within the ideal framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

This high-level open debate, enhanced by the participation of several ministers, was an opportunity to reaffirm the need to see peace and security in Africa from a holistic angle, focusing particularly on economic and development challenges, in order to end conflicts on the continent.

Concerning vaccination, the Ministry revealed that 24,921,992 people have received at least one shot, 23,423,707 have received the second dose. Of these, 6,882,747 people have received the third injection and 60,682 had four doses.

The weekly bulletin brings the total number of infections, since the first case was reported, to 1,272,679, the weekly positivity rate standing at 5.2%.

This week's new infections were reported in the regions of Grand Casablanca-Settat (19), Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (19), Souss-Massa (06), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (05), Fez-Meknes (05), Marrakech-Safi (02) and Oriental (01).

The total number of deaths remains at 16,296, as no cases were recorded last week.

The number of active cases stands at 62, with no severe or critical cases having been recorded in the past seven days.

"Following the strike notice of the civil service in France on April 1, 2023, relayed by the unions of the French DGAC, all airlines have been asked to reduce their flight schedule. In order to limit the impact of cancellations, Royal Air Maroc supports its customers by transferring them to other flights," says RAM on its website.

It added: "Customers who have contact information on their reservation file will receive emails and SMS confirming their rescheduled flight. We invite passengers to check the status of their flight and verify and update their contact information on the 'manage my reservation' section of the RAM website: https://www.royalairmaroc.com/ma-fr/gerer-ma-reservation."

In addition, for all Royal Air Maroc ticket holders on the cancelled flights, who do not wish to travel on the flights made available to them, the national airline grants them a refund of their ticket in its original means of payment, or a free change of date, depending on availability, to and from the same destination or a destination in the Royal Air Maroc network in Europe, for a new travel date within 15 days following the date of the cancelled flight, provided that the initial duration of stay is maintained.

It should be noted that for any change of destination, the possible difference in taxes will be charged to the passenger.

RAM invites passengers whose flights have been cancelled, or who have not received a confirmed rescheduled flight, not to go to the airport and to contact their initial point of sale or the RAM call center to confirm their rescheduled flight or benefit from the above provisions.