Organized by the Circle of Economists under the theme "Acting in the face of the world's deregulations", the Aix en Seine Meetings, hosts 300 personalities from the academic, economic, political and social sphere to debate, for three days and during fifty sessions broadcast online, major priorities and actions to be taken for the post-covid period and to reflect on new economic and social models for the future.

Speaking by videoconference, during the session on "The State in charge of the economy", Benmoussa, also Ambassador of Morocco to France, indicated that in "this post-covid period, the need for a different State, a State which protects, which can act and which can regulate better than what it did, is more and more needed."

Sharing with panelists, including Henrik Enderlein, Professor, Hertie School of Governance, Eeva Furman, Director-Environment Policy Center, Finnish Environment Institute, Jean-Louis Girodolle, Director General Lazard France, Olli Rehn, Governor, Bank of Finland and Karien Van Gennip, President and CEO - ING Bank France, Morocco's experience as a strategist state, Benmoussa pointed out that in Morocco, total state spending is around 40 pc of GDP.

In Morocco, the state has launched a number of proactive policies in the industrial sector, in energy transition as well as in the social field. But these approaches have shown their limit, starting from the observation that growth is no longer sufficient to absorb the needs for job creation and that inequalities remain at a high level, noted the CSMD President who questioned the efficiency of public spending.

He also stressed the need to develop other sources of funding: attractiveness of FDI, mobilization of public/private partnerships, or even through more innovative approaches to Project finance.

According to Benmoussa, the need for a new development model was felt in Morocco "long before this period of health crisis" and the pandemic has only reinforced this feeling.

He underlined that the creation of the CSMD stems from the need to think over the long term and to do it in a participatory way, of co-construction, and in an approach which allows to elaborate a model which is based on the assets of the Kingdom and opportunities.