Speaking at the 6th Ministerial Conference of the 5+5 Dialogue on Research, Innovation and Higher Education, El Midaoui stressed his office's commitment to contributing fully to implementing the actions defined in the 2024-2026 Action Plan, annexed to the joint declaration adopted on Friday with a view to strengthening political dialogue and cooperation in the fields of research, innovation and higher education, as well as promoting integration of an innovative, inclusive and resilient Western Mediterranean region.

The Lisbon Declaration, adopted at the end of the meeting, is “a further milestone in our shared ambition to strengthen cooperation in the fields of higher education, scientific research and innovation. It reflects our shared willingness to mobilize our respective countries' skills and to direct our actions towards shared objectives, with a view to facilitating the mobility of researchers, promoting distance learning, encouraging entrepreneurs, strengthening academic networks and facilitating technology transfer, while guaranteeing wider access to scientific infrastructure”, the minister said.

El Midaoui stressed the importance of the 5+5 Dialogue as a regional platform for consultation, complementarity and joint action, noting that this dialogue aims to strengthen cooperation between North and South, by building a solid and balanced partnership, and to make higher education, scientific research and innovation genuine catalysts for solutions to common challenges.

To give new impetus to the partnership between member countries, the Minister stressed the need to develop a digital platform designed to highlight the many successful experiences and serve as a central point of information for the 5+5 Dialogue on current projects and available opportunities, noting that this platform would promote researchers and students mobility between partner countries. 

In this regard, participants called for greater support for the Mediterranean Research and Innovation Partnership, under the European Commission's new funding programs (2021-2027), in order to submit joint proposals to strengthen research and innovation skills and cooperation in the Western Mediterranean.

During the conference, Portugal, which held the rotating presidency in partnership with Mauritania, handed over the presidency to Libya. The first meeting of the 5+5 Dialogue was held in Rabat in 2013.