Mohamed Chahoui, the General Director of the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company, recently welcomed the Finnish Ambassador to Morocco, Marjiana Sal, during her business visit to the city of Fes. This meeting was specifically oriented towards exploring collaborative opportunities in water resource management, positioning one of the region's principal public service companies in a strategic domain crucial for future development and sustainability. The meeting, as confirmed by the Finnish embassy, is part of the ambassador's visit to Fes, which provided a platform to discuss potential partnerships in water management—a sector deemed vital for both Finland and the Fes-Meknes region and a key focus of Moroccan-Finnish cooperation.
The embassy highlighted that this encounter reflects a shared commitment to developing tangible projects grounded in expertise, innovation, and sustainability, thereby enriching the dialogue beyond mere ceremonial interactions. It opens avenues for practical exchanges of knowledge and experiences while fostering the development of new solutions in water resource management.
This meeting gains additional significance considering the nature of the ambassador's tour in Fes, which included discussions with various institutions and stakeholders in education, research, and innovation, leading up to the water and essential services sector. Such interactions underscore the multifaceted areas of collaboration between Morocco and Finland, emphasizing the Finnish interest in institutions and sectors linked to sustainable development.
Central to this interest is the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company, which has quickly emerged as a key player in managing essential public services within the Fes-Meknes region since its operational launch in July 2025. This initiative is part of a national project aimed at establishing regional multi-service companies and reorganizing the management of water, electricity, and wastewater at the local level.
The company oversees these vital services across the prefectures of Fes and Meknes, along with the provinces of Taza, Taounate, Sefrou, Ifrane, El Hajeb, Boulemane, and Moulay Yacoub. This extensive presence allows it to manage a network of facilities that are directly connected to the daily lives of residents and the needs of the economic and social fabric. The company’s responsibilities extend beyond ensuring continuity in the supply of water, electricity, and wastewater services; they also include modernizing networks and facilities, enhancing distribution efficiency, upgrading infrastructure, improving service quality, and addressing the growing demands of urban centers and rural areas while adapting to climate and environmental changes that complicate water resource management.
Since its inception, the company has embarked on a substantial investment program spanning 2026 to 2030, valued at approximately 9.9 billion dirhams. This program reflects the significant expectations placed on the new entity to modernize the essential services framework in the region, enhance its performance, and prepare for future needs. Notably, investment in water and sanitation holds a central position within this program, given the increasing priority that water security demands at various levels.
The company's interventions also target strengthening networks, renewing sections in need of rehabilitation, improving distribution efficiency, minimizing resource wastage, enhancing water infrastructure, and developing wastewater services. Additionally, it seeks sustainable solutions for resource use and the reuse of treated water, aligning with global sector transformations.
The company's activities extend into rural areas, where expanding access to water and electricity, improving service quality, and reducing regional disparities are part of the broader objectives tied to reorganizing services at the regional level. This positions the company as a key player in territorial development, rather than merely a provider of daily facility management.
Therefore, the meeting with the Finnish ambassador holds particular significance, as the areas discussed directly intersect with numerous projects that fall within the company’s core competencies, particularly water management, innovation, network performance improvement, sustainability, and the development of technical solutions that can enhance public service efficiency.
Furthermore, the Finnish experience in technology, innovation, and sustainability offers a broad scope for potential collaboration, especially given the need for new solutions to address challenges related to water resources, improve infrastructure efficiency, and adopt modern techniques in monitoring and managing water usage.
The importance of this meeting is further underscored by the fact that the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company is still in the process of establishing its new institutional model. This phase necessitates developing cooperative relationships with various partners and learning from successful international experiences, which will enable it to keep pace with the technological, environmental, and digital transformations affecting the public services sector.
In this context, opening up to international expertise is part of the natural trajectory for a company managing interconnected and vital sectors, as it engages in substantial investment projects within a region comprising millions of residents characterized by diverse urban and rural needs for water, electricity, and sanitation.
The Finnish ambassador's visit to Fes also signifies a growing international interest in the region and its institutions, especially as the visit agenda was not limited to one sector but spanned education, research, and innovation before moving into water management. This opens possibilities for building bridges between academic and research institutions on one side and stakeholders in vital sectors on the other.
For the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company, such meetings present an opportunity to showcase the scale of initiatives it has launched since its establishment, highlight the region’s water needs, and explore cooperation possibilities in technology, innovation, and knowledge exchange, particularly as water-related challenges necessitate solutions that extend beyond traditional management towards investments in efficiency, sustainability, and digitization.
This meeting also occurs in a Moroccan context where water security and infrastructure modernization are strategic priorities, granting regional multi-service companies an increasingly significant role in executing projects related to water, sanitation, and electricity, ensuring these services transition to a model that is more efficient and capable of adapting to future developments.
Thus, the reception of the Finnish ambassador by the General Director of the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company represents a new phase in the institution’s journey towards international partnerships and expertise, reflecting its rising importance as a key regional player in strategic facility management. Moreover, the meeting lays the groundwork for transitioning from mere exchanges of visits and experiences to tangible project discussions in water, innovation, and sustainability, in alignment with the Finnish embassy's statement emphasizing the aim of developing practical projects based on expertise, innovation, and sustainability.
If this trajectory evolves into concrete programs and projects, it could unlock new opportunities for the Fes-Meknes region to benefit from international expertise and technologies, while simultaneously enabling the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company to strengthen its capabilities in managing water resources and developing essential services.
In summary, the Fes-Meknes Regional Multi-Service Company stands at the forefront of a new cooperative initiative between Morocco and Finland, not only as a newly established institution managing water, electricity, and wastewater services but also as an entity carrying a significant investment program, operating across a vast territory, and confronting challenges related to water, sustainability, and infrastructure modernization. The meeting with the Finnish ambassador adds a new dimension to this path and opens avenues for collaboration based on the exchange of expertise, innovation, and project development, as the company aims to establish a modern regional model for essential services grounded in investment, modernization, sustainability, and openness to international experiences.
As reported by fes24.com.
