Sixth Edition of Crans Montana Forum Convenes in Dakhla March 18-21
The sixth edition of the Crans Montana Forum will be held, like previous editions, in the Moroccan Saharan city of Dakhla next March 18 through 21.
The venue as well as the program of this annual meeting on Africa and South-South Cooperation were announced by Founding President of the Crans Montana Forum, Jean-Paul Carteron, at a news conference in Rabat Monday.
The 6th edition, themed “Growth and development in Africa foreshadows a new and proactive social contract”, places people at the heart of the Forum. “When you look at what is happening in the world, in Europe, you realize that the social contract is badly carried out, that social relations are falling apart, and that violence is more and more present,” said the Founding President of the Switzerland-based Crans Montana Forum.
Jean-Paul Carteron, who is Honorary Citizen of the city of Dakhla, also announced the creation of the Crans Montana Institute, which will conduct parallel activities.
Underlining the natural assets of the city of Dakhla, Carteron said he was confident that it will be the “future Florida of Morocco … the Tangier of the south.”
The President of Crans Montana also stressed that “it is important to help Morocco maintain the link it has historically and emotionally with the rest of Africa”, adding that the Kingdom is “clearly a leader who shows the way of the miracle.”
Carteron recalled that since March 2015, more than 6,000 participants, representing more than 170 countries, took part in the Crans Montana Forum and discovered the city of Dakhla, which has become a “genuine laboratory of a new development model for Africa”.
The sixth edition of this forum, to be held under the High Patronage of King Mohammed VI, will once again bring together outstanding decision-makers from the four corners of the world. It will provide a platform for reflection on human security, the progress of digital transition and the need for Africa to adapt to current digital challenges, the role of the banking and financial sector in integration, environmental requirements, transport, sustainable agriculture, the contribution of women and youth to the life of communities, the organizers say in a press release.
Improving governance, a major growth driver, will also be at the heart of debates, as the strengthening the credibility and reliability of institutions is essential to enable African economies to develop and encourage investment.
The annual session of this high mass, devoted to Africa and South-South Cooperation, seeks to enhance the role of the forum as a “vector of growth, development and integration for the southern provinces ”.
The Forum also seeks to support the four-fold transition underway in these southern provinces, at the level of economy, energy, ecology and digital transition, acting as a catalyst for local initiatives in the context of human, inclusive and sustainable development, add the organizers.
The forum also aims “to contribute to the international recognition of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom”, to put Dakhla on the map of major international events, to position it as the “laboratory of reflection on Africa and South-South cooperation,” and as a link between Morocco and its African depth.
