US embassy cable - 05RABAT1070

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 001070 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG AND NEA/PI 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
ROME FOR ROSE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2015 
TAGS: ECON, PGOV, KMCA, KMPI, ELAB, EAID, MO 
SUBJECT: KING MOHAMMED VI LAUNCHES MAJOR ECONOMIC GROWTH 
AND ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAM 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Koplovsky for Rea 
sons 1. 4 B and D. 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: During a nationally televised address on May 
18, King Mohammed VI announced a major government initiative 
to combat poverty, create jobs, improve infrastructure, and 
open the Moroccan economy.  The speech's timing -- almost to 
the day of the second anniversary of the May 16, 2003 
Casablanca bombings -- was not coincidental.  The King 
stressed the need to prioritize the GOM's efforts and 
outlined specific steps targeting the poorest rural areas and 
worst urban slums.  While the plan mirrors closely the broad 
outlines of his reform initiatives and of the three-year old 
"Jettou Plan," it was far more detailed and specific and 
hinted at the King's frustration with the implementation of 
his reform vision.  The announcement also coincides with 
ongoing efforts by key GOM ministries to develop the MCA 
Compact proposal and may signal the start of the expanded 
consultative dialogue within Moroccan society.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) On May 18, King Mohammed VI announced his "National 
Initiative for Human Development" during a televised address 
in prime time.  The King stressed that the plan was intended 
to consolidate social, economic, and development factors with 
the overall rule of law and other political reform efforts. 
Accordingly, the initiative is a recognition of the need to 
address underlying poverty issues that threaten Morocco's 
social harmony and thus the long-term viability of the reform 
effort. 
 
--------------------------- 
Guiding Principles: 
Comprehensive and Targeted 
--------------------------- 
 
3. (U) The King outlined four major principles behind the new 
program: 
 
-- A recognition, based on both macro- and microeconomic 
analysis and direct observation, of the significant segment 
of the population living in poverty, particularly in rural 
areas and in urban slums.  The King acknowledged that such 
areas have inadequate access to social services and other 
forms of material support. 
 
-- A reduced reliance upon charity and ad-hoc approaches to 
social problems.  To address the problems and improve social 
conditions, Morocco can no longer rely on charitable acts but 
requires a comprehensive and systematic government program. 
Only the government, he stressed, could ensure sustainable 
development through integrated public policies. 
 
-- A reaffirmation of Morocco's commitment to further opening 
to the global economy.  However, the King stressed that 
Morocco would do so while addressing the challenges that such 
an opening presents to vulnerable segments of society.  In 
order to ensure success, he said that all Moroccans must 
participate in this effort. 
 
-- An openness to international experience and expertise. The 
King said Morocco should draw lessons from the past 
successful efforts of other countries to address poverty. 
Specifically, the King said a rigorous definition of 
objectives and a comprehensive program were critical to 
success. 
 
4. (C) Indeed, the King also rejected sectoral or area 
specific programs in favor of what he called an "integrated 
development approach" (echoing MCA messages). The current 
diffuse approach often led to dysfunctional outcomes 
resulting from the dispersion of efforts, resources, and 
players.  Nevertheless, the King again stressed that his 
program, recognizing limited resources, would concentrate on 
the most vulnerable areas.  Finally, the King tasked the 
government with engaging in a dialogue with the country in 
developing the initiative, and asked it to adopt an action 
plan based on good governance principles. 
 
5. (U) The King described the initiative as neither a 
specific project nor a program targeting current economic 
challenges, but as a perpetual, ongoing policy initiative. 
Indeed, he characterized the need to improve human capital, 
increase national economic competitiveness, and promote 
investment as "permanent struggles."  He focused much of his 
speech on rural development and viewed education and training 
as essential tools for increasing social and economic 
mobility and citizens' participation in society. 
 
----------------------------- 
Plan of Action and Priorities 
----------------------------- 
 
6. (U) King Mohammed VI then described three specific areas 
of emphasis to implement this initiative.  First, the program 
would expand access to basic social services, including 
health, education, water, and power.  Second, the program 
focuses the need to promote job creation while simultaneously 
ending child labor.  He called on the government and others 
to use the upcoming national meetings on labor to make 
specific proposals on the child labor issue.  Finally, the 
King said the program would first offer assistance to people 
with the greatest need.  The initiative would use objective 
criteria to determine such priorities.  As a result of this 
ranking, the King said that the initial phase would target 
360 poor rural communities and 250 urban and suburban slums 
and old medinas. 
 
----------------------------- 
Time Frame Targets for 
Implementation and Evaluation 
----------------------------- 
 
7. (SBU) The King outlined immediate, medium, and long range 
targets for implementation.  In the short-term, the King 
tasked Prime Minister Driss Jettou with developing the 
initiative into a concrete plan of action with integrated and 
specific programs within three months.  In the medium term up 
to the 2007 elections, the King pressed political parties to 
give priority to the development of the initiative's projects 
(indeed, rumor has it that the Prime Minister's annual 
question and answer session before Parliament was postponed 
earlier this week until next week so that he can answer all 
of the MPs questions regarding the new initiative).  Over the 
long-term, the King's specific goal is to raise the key 
socio-economic indicators of Moroccan citizens to the levels 
of a developed country.  Jettou was given three years to 
deliver results at the end of which the GOM would evaluate 
the initiative's impact. 
 
------------------- 
Budgetary Resources 
------------------- 
 
8. (U) Jettou was also charged with submitting a budget 
proposal for the initiative at a special session of 
Parliament.  The King said the initiative will require 
"substantial" and "annual" resources to be itemized in the 
federal budget.  He called for financing measures that were 
efficient and effective.  However, he promised Moroccans that 
the no new personal and business taxes would be levied to 
finance the program.  While no specific figures were given in 
the speech, Minister of Social Development Abderrahim 
Harouchi has told the press the initiative would cost 
approximately one billion Dirhams per year (about USD 900 
million). 
 
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Comment 
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9. (C) The King's address was remarkable in both its scope 
and content.  While in harmony with his overall reform 
efforts since taking office and with the economic reform plan 
launched by Prime Minister Jettou in 2002 (particularly its 
focus on health care, education, and housing), the King's 
speech was very specific.  In particular, the emphasis on 
targeting specific slums and the calls to end child labor 
revealed that the Palace had spent some time developing the 
initiative.  Most importantly, the speech did hint at a sense 
of urgency and frustration on the part of the King, 
particularly the references to the 2007 elections and the 
criticism of haphazard and uncoordinated programs (an apt 
description of previous Moroccan reform efforts). 
 
10. (C) The timing of the speech -- on the anniversary of the 
May 2003 Casablanca bombings and, on the Islamic calendar, 
his father's death -- could not have been coincidental.  The 
King has now acknowledged publicly and in dramatic fashion 
what GOM officials have told us regularly in private 
meetings: until the government can address the underlying 
socio-economic causes of extremism (particularly a lack of 
jobs and education), the overall reform experiment in Morocco 
could be in jeopardy.  The speech had much in common with 
speeches of leaders preparing their people for a long and 
difficult war.  Indeed, the King referred repeatedly to the 
reform effort as a permanent or long-term struggle. 
 
11. (C) Accordingly, the King appealed to a renewed sense of 
patriotism and called on his citizens' sense of 
responsibility and self-sacrifice.  In return, he promised 
them that his government would no longer rely heavily on 
Moroccans' traditional value of charity to address the 
challenges ahead but would instead implement a specific and 
far reaching program with a robust budgetary commitment.  His 
rejection of charity as a solution may signal an attempt to 
take back the initiative from Islamic groups, many of whom 
filled the void in public services (particularly education) 
in the slum areas.  References to balancing the opening of 
the Moroccan economy with protection of vulnerable segments 
of the economy were reminiscent of the FTA negotiations may 
be intended to prepare Moroccans for the imminent 
implementation of the agreement.  His calls for an expanded 
dialogue between government and the people may also coincide 
with Morocco's Millennium Challenge Account compact 
negotiation process.  Post believes that many of the specific 
objectives and priorities enunciated in the speech will be 
used in the MCA dialogue process and will figure prominently 
in Morocco's eventual proposal to the MCC. 
RILEY