MOROCCANS PROPOSE AREAS FOR SCIENCE-TECH

UNCLAS RABAT 000053 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/MAG AND NEA/PPD, OES/STC AND AF/W OES/STC PLEASE PASS TO SCIENCE ENVOY ZERHOUNI USAID/W FOR MEA AMMAN FOR ESTH - BHALLA DOE FOR AFRICAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN POLICY - ERICKSON USDA FOR FAS/OSTA AND FAS/OCBD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TNGD TSPL EINV ETRD KPAO MO XY SUBJECT: MOROCCANS PROPOSE AREAS FOR SCIENCE-TECH COOPERATION REF: RABAT 0006 (NOTAL) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Responding to President Obama's call for increased cooperation in scientific and technological fields, prominent Moroccan researchers and businesspersons have created a working group to identify promising areas of U.S.- Morocco collaboration, including agriculture, energy, aerospace, health, phosphates, water, and education. Moroccan officials, researchers, and businesses are excited about the prospect of enhanced cooperation with the U.S. However, they caution that other countries are also wooing Moroccan partners, and the U.S. needs to follow up quickly on the President's commitments to avoid missing opportunities. End Summary. -------------- MOROCCAN INITIATIVE RESPONDS TO POTUS SPEECH -------------- ¶2. (U) Inspired by the President's June 4 speech in Cairo, a working group led by members of the Moroccan Fulbright Alumni Association (MFAA) has conducted a series of consultations and brainstorming meetings to propose areas ripe for scientific and technical research and development collaboration with the United States. The group includes former Fulbright beneficiaries and other Moroccans prominent in science and technology- oriented businesses and institutions, and familiar with U.S. society, science and technology capabilities, and business culture. The group also includes representatives of most of the Government of Morocco (GOM) entities that deal with research and development, as well as the major private sector actors in developing and commercializing science and technology products in most fields. The Minister of Commerce, Industry and New Technologies, Ahmed Reda Chami, has been supporting the group and providing his input into its deliberations and conclusions. ¶3. (U) In a January 14 presentation to Public Affairs Counselor and EconOff, the leaders of the group, Amine Bensaid and Si Benasser Alaoui, academics in computer sciences and agronomy, respectively, summarized the working group's conclusions. In discussions with Embassy officers, the MFAA representatives highlighted Morocco's strengths in collaboration with the U.S., emphasizing "win-win" opportunities for both countries, and noted the particular niches that the working group identified as ripe for cooperation. -------------- WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE U.S.? -------------- ¶4. (U) Morocco is already engaged in long-term efforts to put science and technology research and development efforts to use in its economic growth goals. With its young demographic profile, high urban and youth unemployment, and generally high level of capacity in science and technology, Morocco is poised to take full advantage of cooperation with the U.S. in a way that showcases the benefits of partnership. The U.S. has already committed hundreds of millions of dollars to Morocco's economic development through USAID and the Millennium Challenge Account Compact, and scientific and technical exchanges already take place, notably in health sciences and past successes in agronomy. Efforts to incorporate more science and technology cooperation will build on the significant U.S. investment in Morocco's growth and enhance its results in job creation and poverty reduction. ¶5. (U) Moroccan researchers are conducting innovative research in areas with direct links to improving economic development. Morocco has major research programs in phosphates (for fertilizer and energy uses),agronomy and green energy, for example. Morocco also boasts world-leading potential in wind, solar and other renewable energy potential, putting it in a position to translate into immediate progress toward development goals any technology and innovation resulting from collaboration with the U.S. ¶6. (U) Morocco is the only country in the world that has concluded free trade agreements with both the U.S. and the European Union, opening the potential for tremendous market access for the results of commercialization of research and development. Morocco is also a gateway to the rest of Africa, particularly francophone West and Central Africa, and has deep ties of collaboration and assistance with other African countries in the economic, science, health and technology fields. These include assistance to develop potable water distribution systems, electric grid management technical assistance, diffusion of agricultural techniques and know-how, and training of thousands of African students who attend Moroccan technical and scientific institutions. Thus, any U.S. investment in developing or transferring to Morocco technologies and knowledge could be further diffused from Morocco to many developing African countries, multiplying the benefits. -------------- PROMISING AREAS OF COOPERATION -------------- ¶7. (U) The MFAA-convened group suggested that Morocco respond to the President's invitation by identifying "low-hanging fruit:" specific niches for cooperation that correspond to both the areas the President highlighted and Morocco's priority axes for research and development. The group specified possibilities in agriculture, aeronautics, energy, health, phosphates, water and education. The group identified Morocco's needs, including strengthening capacity in areas needed to bring research to market such as prototyping and venture capital, reinforcing the interactions between private enterprise and research, and building entrepreneurship and creation of innovation-driver small and medium enterprises. ¶8. (U) Potential areas of cooperation in agriculture include crop and seed development, particularly in relation to drought-resistant or low-water varieties, germplasm and gene-bank biodiversity conservation, pesticide and fertilizer development and management, as well as water management. The group also diagnosed a gap in Moroccan researchers' understanding of the U.S. model of intellectual property protection in relation to plants. Agricultural cooperation, the participants concluded, should also be aimed toward advancing food security and adapting to climate change. USAID-funded training in agriculture and agronomy during the 1960s and 1970s enabled Morocco to establish university teaching and research departments that include a sizable percent of African students. Renewed partnership with these programs (particularly as the original U.S.-trained scholars begin to retire) would be a means of promoting food security and a "green revolution for Africa." The Embassy's Foreign Agricultural Service already plans to use U.S. Department of Agriculture exchange programs such as the Norman Borlaug Science and Technology Fellowship to provide technical assistance and capacity building to address climate change and food security. ¶9. (U) Morocco's growing aerospace sector provides another niche for U.S. cooperation, building on Moroccan research in materials sciences and nanotechnology. Foreign direct investment in aeronautics firms has been growing for several years, and Moroccan companies in this sector have been working their way up the value chain. Participants believe that U.S. companies would benefit from increased cooperation and co- development of products and technologies with Moroccan companies. ¶10. (U) Morocco brings several advantages to energy collaboration. It has recently concluded a long-term energy strategy that emphasizes renewable energy development, including the new USD 9 billion solar energy generation plan, as well as efforts currently under way to grow wind generation resources by over 2000 megawatts before 2020. Private companies and government-sponsored researchers are focusing on solar, wind and other technologies, including a strong emphasis on algal- derived biofuels in partnership with a DOE- supported U.S. company. Morocco has some of the world's most promising resources for solar, wind and algal green energy development, and also shares challenges to these technologies with other developing and Muslim-majority countries, including water scarcity. U.S. efforts to collaborate with Morocco will be met with willing partners, domestic investment and a strong potential to diffuse the benefits of partnership with other African and Muslim-majority nations. ¶11. (U) The working group participants highlighted previous studies that identify a financially viable niche for Moroccan health sciences in the area of medical diagnostics, particularly using stem cell technologies. Moroccan health researchers benefit from long-standing international collaborations, including with the U.S., and participants were confident that U.S. biomedical/biotechnology firms would find profitable opportunities to partner with Moroccan researchers in these areas. ¶12. (U) Morocco's dominance in world phosphates reserves offers another potential area of collaboration. Private and public-sector scientists already pursue wide-ranging research in phosphates. This expertise includes ore processing and beneficiation, as well as chemistry research to optimize fertilizers and contribute to food security. In addition, researchers study phosphates' non-conventional possibilities related to biomaterials as well as energy, such as uranium extraction from phosphate deposits, and the use of phosphate compounds in advanced electrochemical batteries. ¶13. (U) Morocco offers a fruitful field for water collaboration, presenting both the challenges of arid/desert regions and increasing dryness from climate change, and the advantage of experienced water resource managers and operators. Moroccan agencies and institutions have a history of working and sharing expertise with other African water agencies, and the national water office has just opened an International Institute of Water to enhance this mission of diffusing know-how to water-stressed African countries. The impact of U.S. cooperation with this institute or other water researchers will be multiplied by diffusion through Morocco to other developing nations. ¶14. (U) Finally, participants noted similar U.S. and Moroccan needs in education, particularly a deficiency in students pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The group suggested that U.S. and Moroccan researchers could collaborate on efforts to promote STEM study, as well as techniques to support STEM pedagogy. Participants further highlighted common interest in leveraging technology to improve STEM instruction in rural areas (for example through distance learning to supplement local teachers' capabilities) and directed efforts to increase girls' participation and learning in these fields. -------------- NEED FOR URGENCY: WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Comment: This proposal, while emphasizing the positive aspects of Morocco's capabilities and prospects, tracks well with evaluations we have heard from visiting USG scientists, corporations and other experts in research and development. Mission Morocco is eager to facilitate expanded science and technology cooperation with USG, academic and private sector partners to bring about the President's vision of partnership. While our interlocutors have been universally enthusiastic about the prospect of increased cooperation in science and technology since the President's Cairo speech, some are warning that the U.S. needs to show concrete results soon to avoid disappointment from missed expectations. In many ways, U.S influence in Morocco pales in comparison to that of the EU, given its proximity, market size, trade flows and the international presence of European countries and companies. Morocco's historical and linguistic ties with France and Spain, mean that Moroccans often naturally incline to international collaboration with those countries, despite their deep respect for U.S. scientific and technological know-how. ¶16. (SBU) Comment Continued: In addition, in some of the most promising areas for "win-win" collaboration, other countries are much more active than the U.S. at soliciting Moroccan partnership. For example, while Morocco is planning to spend up to USD 9 billion to build solar energy generation stations and has actively sought U.S. government and private sector interest in technology development and building, Germany has been much more active in outreach to researchers in the renewable energy sector, funding technical conferences and research exchanges to build relationships. The Mission strongly recommends early outreach from the U.S. governmental and non- governmental science and technology community to forge collaborations and partnerships with the best Moroccan minds and institutions in these promising areas. End Comment. KAPLAN