In a speech delivered during the ceremony, which was held in the presence of representatives of MAP’s Board of Directors, agency officials and other personalities, Bensaid congratulated Arif on the trust that HM the King has placed in him by appointing him to this position, wishing him to live up to this Royal Trust and succeed in his new mission.
The Minister noted that Arif is one of the most distinguished Moroccan media executives with an exceptional career both within the Agency since 1994, notably as head of the MAP office in Paris and then in Washington D.C., and in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates as an advisor.
Maghreb Arab Press Agency is a historical institution and a reference in the field of press and media in the Kingdom, said Bensaid, noting that since its creation, MAP has distinguished itself by a unique agency style and remains Morocco’s media arm at the national and international levels.
Stressing that “the Agency must now face the external challenges we are facing,” including fake news, which is a new enemy of the country, the Minister affirmed that the Agency’s stories serve to promote Morocco’s image abroad and highlight the achievements made under the enlightened leadership of HM the King, as well as to defend the Kingdom’s territorial integrity and first national cause.
He also considered that the Agency is now called upon to strengthen its international presence, to open itself to the competencies of the national media and to be one of the pillars of media diplomacy.
For his part, Arif expressed his pride in the Royal Trust placed in him by HM King Mohammed VI, and expressed his firm determination to contribute tirelessly and responsibly to the implementation of the Sovereign’s aspirations to elevate the Kingdom to the rank of great nations.
Arif also paid tribute to the memory of the late Khalil Hachimi Idrissi, former Director General of the Agency, and his unique career as one of the most prominent figures in the media landscape, who rendered commendable services to the homeland and its sacred institutions, as well as to the media sector.
He also paid tribute to the previous Directors General who have succeeded each other at the helm of MAP and who have contributed to making it an emblematic institution in the national media landscape.
“I would now like to look to the future. A future to which we will all contribute to breathe new life into our Agency and bring an innovative and strategic vision to the work we do,” Arif added, specifying that this vision is that of an Agency capable of taking up the various challenges and that is in phase with the technological development experienced by the media sector, capable of making MAP a major player that supports the other establishments in the public media landscape in a framework of complementarity and openness.
“It is also and above all the vision of an Agency that fully plays its role in defending the national interests and sovereignty of the Kingdom in the information sector,” he said, expressing his conviction that “we have the necessary capabilities and competencies to achieve this.”
The director general of the Maghreb Arabe Presse Agency said he was convinced of MAP’s ability to “innovate, succeed and reinvent itself in order to give it the merits of a press agency”.
