Reform in the Arab World: The Strength, Limits and Prospects of Reforms in Morocco

Day 1: Friday May 2

17:00 - Opening and Introduction
Prof. Margaret Macmillan (Warden, St Antony’s College, Oxford University)
Eugene Rogan (Oxford University),
Michael Willis (Oxford University),
Driss Maghraoui (Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane)

17:30 - Panel 1: Executive Perspectives

Chair: Eugene Rogan

Khalid Alioua (President CIH - Credit Immobilier et Hotelier)
'State and Perspectives of the Banking Sector: Seeking a successful Linkage with the Global Economy'

Nourredine Bensoudda (Director General of Taxes, Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance) ‘Moroccan Tax Reform'

Mostafa Terrab (Director General of the OCP)
‘The Development of Telecoms in Morocco and the Evolution of its Regulation’

Day 2: Saturday May 3

10.00 - Introduction: Driss Maghraoui and Michael Willis

10:15 - Panel 2: The Challenges of Political Reforms

Chair : Michael Willis

Abdelhay El Moudden (Mohammed V University, Rabat)
‘Political Reforms in Morocco’

Saloua Zerhouhni (Mohamed V University, Rabat)
‘The Moroccan Parliament: More Politics than Policy’

Ali Bahaijoub (North-South Magazine)
‘Reforms in the Moroccan Media’

George Joffe (Cambridge University)
‘Moroccan Reform in a Regional and International Context’

12:30 - 14:00 Break

14:00 – Panel 3: Overcoming Economic and Social Obstacles

Chair: Driss Maghraoui

Driss Ben Ali (Mohammed V University, Rabat)
‘Economic Reforms in Morocco’

Mohammed Bouzidi (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Akhawayn University)
‘Social Reforms in Morocco: Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals’

Abdelakader Ezzaki (Senior Education Advisor, Academy for Educational Development, Rabat)
‘The Challenges of Educational Reforms in Morocco’

15:30 - 16.00: Break

16:00 - Panel 4: The Justice System and Religious Reforms

Chair: Mohammed Ben Madani (The Maghreb Review)

James Sater (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Akhawayn University)
‘Rule of Law between Rhetoric and Reality’

Katja Zvan (Oxford University)
‘The Reform of the Moudawana and the Status of Women’

Driss Maghraoui (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Akhawayn University)
‘The Strengths and Limits of Religious Reforms in Morocco’

18:00- 18:30
Concluding Remarks and Discussion Michael Willis and Driss Maghraoui