Experts
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Born on 21 August 1966 in Rabat (Morocco), Fathallah Sijilmassi is an economist and a career diplomat. After having worked at the Banque Commerciale du Maroc (currently Attijariwafabank) in Milan (Italy) from 1989 to 1992, then at the Ministry of Foreign Trade from 1992 to 1999, he held the functions of Director of Multilateral Cooperation (1999-2001), and Director of European Affairs (2001-2003) within the Moroccan diplomacy. In 2003, he was appointed by His Majesty the King of Morocco Ambassador of Morocco to the European Union (2003-2004), then to France (2005-2009). From 2009 to 2012, he leads the new Moroccan Agency for Investment Development. During this period, many multinational companies and SMEs chose Morocco as a regional platform. From 2012 to 2018, Fathallah Sijilmassi was appointed Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), an international organization bringing together 43 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region and whose vocation is to promote dialogue and cooperation. The headquarters of the UfM is in Barcelona (Spain). F. Sijilmassi holds a doctorate in International Economics from the University of Grenoble (France). He is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble (France).
Fathallah Sijilmassi has received several decorations:
- Grand Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite et Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (France) ;
- Encomiendo de numero of the Royal Order of Isabel la Catolica (Spain);
- Star of Merit (Palestine).
