High-level Morocco/World Bank Meeting Discuss ‘Water for Development’

Rabat – A high-level meeting under the theme “Water for development” was held, recently in Rabat, by the Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water, in partnership with the World Bank.

During this meeting, held by video conference and attended by the Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water, emphasis was placed on the current situation and achievements in the water sector as well as the constraints and challenges to ensure the sustainable supply of water in Morocco.

Water security requires a combination of mobilization of conventional and non-conventional water resources, whose cost is relatively high, demand management, rationalization and efficiency in the use of water and the fight against pollution, said the Ministry in a statement.

According to projections made as part of the National Water Plan (PNE) 2020-2050, supplying the Kingdom with water in a sustainable manner requires a budget of about 400 billion dirhams, including 115.4 billion dirhams dedicated to the National Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation Program (PNAEPI) 2020-2027, which was launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI on 13 January 2020.

The World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa region, Ferid Belhaj, emphasized the centrality of water for development in Morocco. He also explained that the growing water scarcity aggravated by climate change, gives today’s water issue a quasi-existential dimension.

Morocco, which has already made great strides on the issue of sustainable water management, is ready to take its thinking further and show that sound water resource management can become the lever of a sustainable, resilient and inclusive development model.