During a conference held under the theme "Culture, a decisive lever for regional development", the participants stressed the importance of culture in the influence of the region, the richness of the Kingdom's centuries-old heritage, the challenges to address for the promotion of a cultural dynamic as well as the issue of the subsidies allocated for cultural affairs.
This meeting was enhanced by the participation of several writers and cultural actors who are members of the Gutenberg Companions Brotherhood/Morocco, an association chaired by MAP Director General of MAP, Khalil Hachimi Idrissi.
These include the honorary president and moderator of the conference, Mohamed Berrada, the psychoanalyst and writer Jalil Bennani, the director general of the Oriental Agency, Mohamed Mbarki, the writer and journalist Mohamed Seddik Maaninou, and the managing editor of the daily newspaper "Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki", Hamid Jmahri.
On this occasion, Mr. Berrada underlined the need to pay more attention to culture, given its essential role in developing a sense of creativity, especially among young people.
In this regard, he highlighted the importance of devoting more space and interest to culture in the plans and programs carried out by regional officials, calling for greater mobilization of funds for the promotion of a wealth-creating culture.
For his part, Mr. Bennani pleaded in favor of pluriculturalism and plurilingualism, stressing the importance of culture which constitutes "a means of sharing and living together" for individuals.
Referring to the African Continent, he said that thanks to the many cultural events, Africa lives to the rhythm of an unprecedented cultural dynamic, thus contributing to the development of local cultures.
Welcoming the importance and timeliness of the theme chosen for this conference, Mr. Mbarki, for his part, underlined that culture is an integral part of regional development.
The cultural and heritage resources of the regions are a spur for the production of local wealth and cultural activities, he pointed out.
Regarding the successful model of the Maghrebian Book Fair of Oujda, he reviewed the various modern expressions of culture, accentuated by new technologies and which constitute a strong base for a rich cultural industry, in particular graffiti and new artistic trends.
For his part, Mr. Maaninou noted that culture is in no way linked to an individual but is rather a collective responsibility, adding that the cultural specificities of each region are a wealth of the Kingdom that it is necessary to apprehend individually.
Culture has been left out of electoral programs at the regional level, he regretted, believing that this gap must be filled.
Commenting on the place of culture and regionalization, Mr. Jmahri stressed that the latter cannot be carried out and achieve the sought objectives in the absence of a cultural strategy adapted to each region.
In this regard, he insisted on the importance of decentralization instead of letting the central authorities make the final decisions, particularly of a budgetary nature.
This conference was also attended by the director of the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco (BNRM), Mohamed El Ferrane, who regretted the lack of interest given to cultural action in local strategies.
"The various reports as well as the related strategic axes ignore that culture and the economy go hand in hand," he noted.
The Gutenberg Companions Brotherhood/Morocco is a Moroccan association that brings together writing professionals with the aim of developing reading and culture in Morocco, by contributing to building a just and fraternal world through respect for all cultures.
Since its creation in April 2010, the Moroccan section of the Gutenberg Companions Brotherhood has conducted several actions, with the aim of promoting writing, reading and encouraging writing and editing.