Cthose who attach great importance to industrial innovation have cause for reassurance, even rejoicing. The major players in the public and private sectors have obviously decided to double down on innovation in industry, a sector that provides jobs and added value for the country.
A few days after the signing of the tripartite partnership agreement for the support of VSMEs for the realization of industrial innovation projects (Ministry of Industry and Commerce, MAScIR Foundation and UM6P, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, chaired in Rabat the signing ceremony of an agreement relating to the support of industrial innovation programs Tatwir-R&D and Innovation.As a reminder, one of the flagship measures of the tripartite agreement relates to the offer of technical assistance and financial support capped at 500,000 DH per company.
In the same vein, the new scheme aims to support research, development and innovation projects proposed by SMEs and emerging companies operating in the industrial sector. The objective is to strengthen the competitiveness of the targeted companies. The new program, in which the Head of Government attaches great interest, is structured around two components. The first relates to the accompaniment and support of research, development and innovation projects of companies active in the industrial sector. The second component concerns support for technological investment in its pilot phase.
100 qualified projects are targeted through development support and the strengthening of invention patents. And this, by absorbing 80% of the costs, up to an amount of one million dirhams, in addition to support for innovation and development projects through a contribution of 60% (with a ceiling of 4 million dirhams). It is important to specify that the program has the advantage of being financed by a permanent mechanism, embodied by the Innovation Support Fund (FSI). The latter was created within the framework of the agreement signed between the State and the National Agency for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, with an overall financial envelope of 300 million dirhams annually.
The new mechanisms aimed at boosting industrial innovation are also to be linked to the intention of the public authorities to actively contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of Moroccan companies. This is all the more commendable if we know that VSMEs are overrepresented on the front line of business failures for known reasons (longer payment terms, competition, market characteristics, etc.).
The challenge over the coming years will be to sustain and increase the budget allocated to the Innovation Support Fund (ISF). A mechanism called upon to actively participate in the consolidation of the stock of innovative projects in the industrial field on a national scale. In the end, it must be admitted that the two conventions mentioned above lay the foundations of a new era more conducive to industrial innovation in Morocco.