CGEM and the Ministry of Higher Education Join Forces to Boost Employability and Competitiveness
A strategic framework partnership agreement aimed at sustainably strengthening ties between the academic world and the national economic fabric was signed Tuesday in Casablanca between the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation and the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM).
The agreement was signed by Minister Azzedine El Midaoui and CGEM President Chakib Alj. It seeks to establish a structured and lasting rapprochement, ensuring stronger alignment between university training programs and the evolving needs of the national economy, in a context marked by accelerated technological change and growing demands in competitiveness and employability.
In his remarks, Mr. Alj highlighted that Morocco possesses remarkable human capital, with nearly 1.1 million students — 58% of them women — more than 150,000 graduates each year, and around 11,000 engineers trained annually. The key challenge, he noted, is to transform this potential into skills that are directly applicable to business growth and enterprise development.
“Today, links between universities and businesses exist, but they are still too often occasional, individual and insufficiently structured. This agreement will allow us to scale up through concrete levers: better identification of sectoral skills needs, continuous adaptation of training programs, development of internships and work-study schemes, and stronger synergies with research and innovation. Sectoral federations and CGEM regional branches will play a key role in anchoring this cooperation locally and making it fully operational,” he added.
For his part, El Midaoui stressed that the agreement reflects a shared determination to bring the worlds of education and business closer together on a lasting basis, through complementarity and co-construction, in order to provide concrete responses to the economic, social and technological challenges facing the country.
He recalled that improving the alignment between training and employment represents a major strategic lever to strengthen graduates’ professional integration and support national development momentum.
The minister also emphasized that the agreement is not an end in itself but rather the starting point of a structured and operational partnership, based on collective mobilization and effective commitment from all stakeholders, with the objective of creating lasting bridges between education, scientific research and the socio-economic fabric.
Through this agreement, the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation and CGEM commit to structuring and institutionalizing collaboration between academia and the business community, moving from isolated initiatives to an organized and sustainable partnership.
The partnership is built around several strategic pillars, including the co-design and regular updating of training programs in consultation with economic stakeholders, the expansion of internships and work-study opportunities, and the strengthening of mechanisms supporting professional integration.
It also promotes continuing education for employees, coordinated identification of short- and medium-term skills needs, and the organization of regular dialogue, evaluation and coordination meetings between universities and businesses.
Through these measures, both parties aim to build an integrated ecosystem capable of contributing tangibly to improving the alignment between education and employment, in service of national economic competitiveness and the development of human capital.
Editorial team/le7tv
