After successful meetings on Monday and Tuesday, we started the third day of our international residency with a better understanding of Morocco’s dynamics on all of our topics. Today our group was spread among different meetings in Casablanca and Rabat. Some of us commuted early this the sunny morning to go to the Moroccan capital to get a better sense of economic and international relations issues at the OCP Policy Center. Others stayed in Casablanca to go to ANAPEC, which is a public agency that provides support services for people in need of a job.
In the afternoon we had a meeting at the Confederation Générale des Enterprises du Maroc (CGEM), where we met Sophia El Idrissi. She shared with us the functioning of the CGEM and highlighted the importance of this agency as a connection between the private sector and the government. CGEM represents the private sector with the government and holds eight seats in Parliament. It plays a fundamental role for domestic large, medium, and small business since it has a voice in the parliament and advises the King in the design of some of the country’s economic strategies.
Additionally, Sophia mentioned CGEM facilitated the development of a joint platform between the private sector and the government that covers 5 thematic areas: (1) small and medium industries, (2) competitiveness, (3) employment, (4) vocational training and (5) international relations. We also discussed some other themes related to gender issues and international trade.
A chat with our interpreter on the way back to the hotel led us to appreciate that informal conversations with locals can offer fascinating and useful insights for our research. In particular, we shared perspectives on the challenge of finding a balance between pursuing a career and raising children.