Reduce digital divide - Moroccan Minister

Morocco 's national ICT strategy must aim at reducing the digital divide and propelling the Kingdom into the ranks of the leading members of the digital society.

 

Morocco 's national ICT strategy must aim at reducing the digital divide and propelling the Kingdom into the ranks of the leading members of the digital society.

 

The country's Minister in Charge of Economic and General Affairs, Talbi El-Alami, urged this policy when opening the International Forum of Investment and Strategy for ICT, which was organised under the auspices of His Majesty Mohammed VI in Marrakech. Minister El Alami outlined three main objectives: providing Morocco with an avant-garde plan to make internet access country-wide, strengthening basic infrastructure, and boosting GDP by creating some 100,000 new ICT jobs by 2010.

Reinforcing the idea that his strategy is based on human capital, the Minister stressed the positive aspects of competition and that the ever-growing flow of ICT characterised a world at the dawn of a new era. For all these reasons he called for a massive effort to overcome the difficulties facing developing countries so they could "take part in this race against time so as not to stay on the margins."

Redefining priorities and concentrating efforts on lucrative and competitive markets were two other fields where Mr El Alami also urged participating countries to increase their efforts. 

* Morocco currently counts more than 11 million mobile phone subscribers and 4.5 million internet users. Earlier this year, Minister El Alami published the first document of his e-Maroc strategy, part of a communication package aiming to give a clear vision of the future objectives and perspectives of the development of ICT in the Kingdom.

 

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