Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, ambassador Azzedine Farhane, highlighted, on Monday in the Austrian capital, the efforts made by Morocco to face the socio-economic challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
Speaking at a meeting under the theme “Post-Covid recovery: opportunities and challenges for security and regional cooperation”, heralding the first meeting of the Mediterranean partners with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Farhane stressed that Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has adopted comprehensive proactive measures to stem the spread of the virus.
In this regard, the Moroccan diplomat explained that since the appearance of the first case last March, Morocco has declared a state of health emergency at the national level with the suspension of all flights and the closure of schools and institutions, stressing that HM the King has created a special fund that has mobilized three billion dollars to help citizens impacted by the effects of the pandemic.
He noted that besides the mobilization of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) to strengthen the health infrastructure, the industrial sector has turned to the production and distribution of masks as well as medical and pharmaceutical supplies by which Morocco, true to its spirit of solidarity, has supplied 20 African countries.
On the economic front, Farhane recalled that the Moroccan authorities have worked to establish a committee to monitor the impact of the pandemic on the ability of businesses to pay their taxes, in addition to granting a moratorium for small and medium enterprises and individuals, and the granting of subsidies to workers in the formal and informal sectors.
Farhane also recalled the creation of the Mohammed VI Fund for Investment, worth 4.5 billion dollars, to support the public and private sectors, improve the business climate and thoroughly reform public enterprises, promote access to banking services and mobile payments, modernize the Regional Investment Centers (CRI), in addition to accelerating the digital transformation to adapt businesses to the new economic context and achieve a global and sustainable growth.
Referring to the vaccination campaign, Farhane noted that His Majesty King Mohammed VI announced on November 9, 2020, a major national vaccination plan against Covid-19, which was launched on January 29 across the Kingdom.
The Moroccan government has ordered about 66 million doses of vaccine, including 25 million doses of the “AstraZeneca” vaccine and 41 million doses of the “Sinopharm” vaccine, making Morocco the first African country to obtain a large quantity of vaccine sufficient to ensure national herd immunity, noting that the number of people vaccinated so far has reached 4.5 million.
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