Representatives of the Kuopio Water Cluster participated in Minister Sari Essayah’s visit to Morocco on 25–26 March 2026. One of the key themes of the trip was water and the promotion of cooperation in the water sector between Finnish and Moroccan water-sector actors. Morocco has suffered from significant water scarcity in recent years and is investing large sums of money in developing its local water infrastructure. The investments focus on, among other things, increasing desalination capacity, promoting the reuse of wastewater, expanding water storage basins and overall storage capacity, as well as improving and optimizing the efficiency of water use.

Finnish water expertise is generating broad interest in Morocco—even at the ministerial level—and offers opportunities for active water-sector operators interested in exports. One of the goals of our visit was to identify potential company-driven project cases for joint projects between Finnish and Moroccan water-sector companies. In addition, we worked to deepen the research collaboration between Savonia, GTK, THL, and the Moroccan UM6P University in preparation for upcoming Horizon funding applications.

The trip was carried out as part of the KuVe project (Kuopio’s water expertise toward international visibility and business development), which is funded by the Regional Council of North Savo and the City of Kuopio as part of the Sustainable Urban Development call. The main funding for the project comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

More info: contact@kuopiowatercluster.com