The elections of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), which took place last Wednesday, resulted in the election of Chakib Laâlej, as president of CGEM, with a total of 4122 votes, at the electoral general assembly attended by 4275 members, to become the 11th president of this union since its foundation.
Chakib Laâlej, who succeeds Salah-Eddine Mezouar at the head of this important institution, was born in Casablanca. He obtained a baccalaureate from Moulay Idriss Zerhoune before completing his schooling in the United States of America and then returning to Morocco to take over the reins of the new company, Les Moulins du Maroc, a French company that his father bought in the 1960s and which has now become a modern company employing more than 2,000 people.
Chakib Laâlej, who became a member of the board of directors of the CGEM seven years ago, as president of the National Federation of Mills, is interested in many other sectors such as flour production, fertilizers and the plastic industry. He also invests in poultry farming, animal feed production, white meat processing, canned meat production, transport and logistics, hotels, restaurants and renewable energies. He is also an active member of numerous professional federations and associations, as well as chairing the Association bi-professional cereal activities and the Federation of Professions in the Distribution of Consumer Goods.
Numerous press sources have indicated that the new chairman of the employers’ association is a Saudi national because of the good relations his father had with the leaders of Saudi Arabia who granted him this exceptional privilege.
Chakib Laâlej, a 54 years old, will head the federation for a three-year term. He succeeds Mezouar, who resigned after making controversial remarks about Algeria at an international conference in Marrakech, earning him the wrath of the foreign ministry, which issued a statement calling him irresponsible. The affair was covered by many national press organs.
It should be recalled that the CGEM was created on 20 October 1947 to serve as the representative of employers and to defend their interests before the institutions and authorities. Promoting investment and fostering entrepreneurship are also among the ambitions of this institution.
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