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FOM Newsletter May
2001
Morocco Week in Review
May 5 , 2001
Child Schooling on the
Rise.
Maghreban feminist
groups meet in Rabat.
Projet
de réseau d'accueil des enfants victimes de maltraitance
Morocco
Pledges to Settle Disabled Graduates' Problem.
Moroccan
end-March cereal stocks fall to 1.02 mlnT
Morocco's
2001 citrus exports lowest in 30 years
Moroccan
inflation rate seen at 2.3 pct in 2001
Morocco's
GDP to post 7.2 percent growth this year.
Morocco,
Egypt to set up $ 13 mln medical equipment firm.
Morocco
expounds business opportunities, economic potentials.
Morocco
to build six tourist resorts for $5 bln.
Morocco,
France sign agreements on small and medium sized enterprises.
Phosphate,
Fertilizer Production Increase.
Industrial
Production Up 3.5 Per Cent.
Moroccan
Films Win At Montreal African Festival.
Morocco
to Use Diplomatic Offices to Boost Export.
Teletech
to build major call-center complex.
Morocco
tenders for petroleum strategy consultancy.
CASABLANCA - Morocco managed to school 85 percent of children falling in the 6 to 11 years age bracket, education minister, Abdellah Saaf, announced Monday. The official told the press the figure represents a 3 percent increase over the 82 percent envisioned by the government. Saaf added that his department wants to bring the figure up to 92 percent during the coming academic year 2001-2002. "The objective is to guarantee a seat at school for each child and to bring schools closer to children's homes," he said, adding that the generalization of schooling is an urgent and inevitable goal that should be materialized within the five coming years. He stressed the need, in this connection, to associate parents and motivate pupils. Saaf also noted that the government gives priority to girls schooling. A plan to encourage little girls' access to school will be finalized shortly. The plan will mainly target rural girls, he said. Morocco's national average for girls schooling stood at 80.5 percent in 2000-2001 against 74.2 percent in 1999-2000, the education department said. Rural girls schooling was at 70.4 percent in 2000-2001 against 62.1 percent one year before.
http://www.map.co.ma/english/dispatches/national_news.htm
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Maghreban feminist groups meet in Rabat.
Culture, 5/1/2001
Maghreban feminist groups opened over the weekend in Rabat a conference on gender equality in North Africa. The conference is debating a Maghreban strategy meant to enable the region's women take up the challenges posed to them. Coordination of efforts between women's organizations in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are also on the agenda of the meeting. The conference is sponsored by Collectif 95 Maghreb Egalite, set up in 1992 to plead for the promotion of Maghreban women's conditions.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010501/2001050120.html
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Projet de réseau d'accueil des enfants victimes de maltraitance
Panafrican News Agency, May 4, 2001
Un réseau national intégré d'unités d'accueil et d'orientation des enfants victimes de maltraitance sera inauguré prochainement au Maroc, a annoncé le ministre marocain de la santé, Thami El Khyari, cité vendredi par la presse. Ces unités d'accueil, qui seront mises en place dans les hôpitaux des différentes régions du royaume chérifien, seront des centres d'écoute et d'aide aux enfants victimes de maltraitance englobant, outre une équipe médicale, des psychologues, des juristes et des assistantes sociales. Ce réseau est le fruit d'un accord de partenariat entre le ministère de la santé et l'Observatoire national marocain des droits de l'enfant (ONDE, public).
La première étape de cette opération consiste en la mise en place d'un centre de référence au profit des enfants victimes de maltraitance au sein de l'hôpital des enfants de la capitale, Rabat. Ce centre aura pour mission la collecte et l'analyse des données qui lui parviendront des différentes unités d'accueil et d'orientation et d'en assurer le suivi aux côtés de l'ONDE. Le ministère de la santé compte organiser une campagne de sensibilisation auprès des employés du secteur de la santé pour leur expliquer les objectifs et les finalités de cette opération.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200105040389.html
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Morocco Pledges to Settle Disabled Graduates' Problem.
RABAT - Morocco has said that it will take all measures to deal with the problem of jobless disabled graduates. The dossier of these people will be dealt with with all concerned partners based on a global approach, the Moroccan ministry in charge of women condition, family protection, childhood and handicapped people integration said in a release. Some initiatives were already made, in this connection, with private and public operators, the department said, adding that disabled people integration is made according to the principle of these people's right to employment. Morocco had passed law whereby handicapped people should be granted 7 percent of jobs within the state budget.
http://www.map.co.ma/english/dispatches/national_news.htm
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Moroccan end-March cereal stocks fall to 1.02 mlnT
RABAT, May 3 (Reuters) - Moroccan cereal stocks fell by 8.8 percent to 1.02 million tonnes including 704,900 tonnes of soft wheat, at the end of March compared with the previous month, the state-run cereals office ONICL said on Thursday. Stocks stood at 1.11 million tonnes, including 768,600 tonnes of soft wheat, at the end of February, it said. Cereal imports from June to the end of March -- mainly from France, Canada and the United States -- totalled 4.54 million tonnes, including 2.53 million tonnes of soft wheat. The import season runs until the end of May.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=988887896nL03481307§ion=Countries&page=Morocco
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Morocco's 2001 citrus exports lowest in 30 years.
Reuters - May 04 2001
Rabat - Morocco's citrus industry, a major European supplier, is this year facing its worst campaign in 30 years due to drought and low demand, costing it over one billion dirhams, a senior industry spokesman said on Friday. Ahmed Derrab, head of citrus fruits producers group (ASPAM) said turnover of the industry, which employs some 90,000 people, is expected to fall 30 percent this year to 3.5 billion dirhams ($304.4 million). "Drought over the last three years badly affected production in quantity and quality and European markets have not been kind to us neither," he told Reuters. He also blamed unfavourable exchange rates. Morocco last week devalued its currency by five percent to respond to repeated calls by exporters including ASPAM. "The weak euro is causing us great harm and the five percent devaluation came very late because we had 90 percent of our exports already." The campaign starts in October and ends in June. Morocco's citrus exports up to May 2 stood at 360,000 tonnes against 525,000 tonnes a year earlier that also was of poor return, he said. He said European markets' demand fell this year because of quality concerns, and though demand started picking up last month it was too late. ASPAM is asking the government to raise its contribution to funding drip irrigation to 50 percent from 30 percent. The system is highly sophisticated but expensive costing 25,000 dirhams per hectare. It enables a more useful and rational use of water with 30 to 40 percent less consumption. "Only industrial farmers can afford such costs, but those do not represent the majority. Such a system must be generalized because drought is becoming more frequent," he said. He said tomato exports were also suffering due mainly to lower planted areas after "the disastrous campaign of last year, hit by the white flea." Tomato exports up to May 2 stood at 300,000 tonnes from 334,000 tonnes a year earlier. Derrab said France, Great Britain Germany and Belgium account for some 60-70 percent of citrus and tomato exports while Russia is the main non-EU market accounting for around 15 percent of total exports. - Reuters
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Moroccan inflation rate seen at 2.3 pct in 2001
RABAT, May 4 (Reuters) - Morocco's inflation rate is expected to rise to 2.3 percent by end 2001 due mainly to higher domestic consumption, the Centre Marocain de Conjoncture (CMC) think-tank said in a report received on Friday. Inflation was 1.9 percent in 2000 and 0.7 percent in 1999.
Morocco's economy has suffered from drought in the past two years but is expected to rebound in 2001 and grow by around seven percent thanks to higher agricultural output, the centre said. "The consumer price index is expected to rise by up to 60 percent to reach 2.3 percent this year because of a relaunch of business activity, trade and households consumption," Ahmed Laaboudi, head of research at the Casablanca-based CMC said. Morocco's GDP was estimated at around 365 billion Moroccan dirhams ($31.7 billion) in 2000. An expected harvest of around 5.0 million tonnes of cereals this year will also have a "positive impact" on the economy, Laaboudi said. Morocco harvested 1.8 million tonnes of cereals in 2000 against an expected 6.5 million, he added. The agriculture sector accounts for up to 20 percent of GDP and employs half the 10.6 million worforce, officials figures show. ($1= 11.503 Moroccan Dirhams)
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=988990329nL04173452§ion=Countries&page=Morocco
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Morocco's GDP to post 7.2 percent growth this year.
Economics, 5/4/2001
Morocco's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will post a 7.2 percent growth in 2001 thanks mainly to the increase in agriculture GDP, the official statistics department announced. The Moroccan economy recorded a quasi-stagnation in 2000 with a slight growth of 0.3 percent of the GDP, mainly due to the severe drought that hit the country.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010504/2001050425.html
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Morocco, Egypt to set up $ 13 mln medical equipment firm.
Business, 5/1/2001
Moroccan and Egyptian businessmen agreed to set up a $ 13-million joint firm for the production of medical equipment. The firm, to be based in Casablanca, will be set up under an accord concluded
recently in Cairo. The firm will produce medical equipment, using state-of-the art technology. Its
products will be sold in Morocco and Egypt as well as in Europe, Ibrahim Jamal Abu Omara, who chairs the Egyptian side at the Moroccan-Egyptian chamber of commerce, said.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010501/2001050119.html
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Morocco expounds business opportunities, economic potentials.
Economics, 5/3/2001
Moroccan economy, finance, tourism and privatization minister, Fathallah Oualalou, expounded on Tuesday in Washington Morocco's business opportunities and economic potentials. Oualalou, who was addressing a symposium on business opportunities in the Maghreb, expounded Morocco's assets as a stable and open country, enjoying religious tolerance. He also reviewed Morocco's macro-economic stabilization policy, which helped reduce budget deficit to between 2 and 2.5 percent of the GDP. Inflation is also controlled at 0.7 to 1.6 percent, he said, adding that Morocco enforced reforms in the realms of administration, justice, education and training to drain more investments. He noted that companies investing more than $ 20 million will benefit from more advantages under an accord passed with the state. The minister stressed that the sectors of textile, agri-business, electronics, power, tourism, new information technologies are the most promising sectors for foreign investors. The symposium was sponsored by the Corporate Council on Africa, set up in 1992 to promote economic and commercial cooperation between the USA and African nations. Besides Oualalou, the symposium was attended by Algerian energy and mining minister, Chakib Khelil, Mauritanian minister of economic affairs and development, Mohamed Ould Nany and Tunisian trade minister, Tahar Sioud. US under secretary for economic and commercial affairs, Alan Larson, also attended the encounter. The Maghreban officials also held a meeting on the follow up of the American-Maghreban initiative of economic and commercial partnership, known as the Eizenstat Initiative.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010503/2001050318.html
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INTERVIEW-Morocco to build six tourist resorts for $5 bln.
By Gilles Trequesser
RABAT, May 3 (Reuters) - Morocco aims to work with investors to build six seaside tourist resorts for $5.2 billion in the next few years and reach an ambitious goal of 10 million visitors by 2010, the top government tourism official said. "I am optimistic we can have 10 million visitors, this is not a dream. Turkey did it also in 10 years between 1987 and 1997," said Fathia Bennis, general manager of the Moroccan National Tourist Office, in an interview. "The state will contribute 50 percent and the private sector 50 percent," she told Reuters late on Wednesday, adding that major international leisure groups and hotel chains, such as France's Accor , Neckermann of Germany and Spain's Sol Melia , have expressed interest. Tourism is vital to the economy of Morocco, a country of 30 million blessed with a rich, ancient culture, exquisite handicraft, thousands of miles of coastline, deserts and snow-capped mountains. The industry employs about 600,000 people and is second only to expatriate remittances as an earner of foreign currency. The North African country earned $2 billion from about 2.5 million foreign visitors last year, up 10.3 percent from 1999. Plans call for the new resorts to add 140,000 beds, more than doubling its current supply of 90,000 beds. That figure is far below rival tourist destinations nearby, such as Tunisia and Spain's Canary Islands, which have 150,000 beds to offer. Bennis said the 60 billion dirhams ($5.2 billion) to be invested will be split in three projects on the Atlantic coast near Agadir, and three on the Mediterranean, close to Tangiers and Tetouan.
NEW INCENTIVES, ATTITUDES
"Tourism in Morocco is not a fad, there is a political will to develop the sector, but private investors must share in this development," she said. The government began last year to offer incentives to companies building tourism infrastructure -- total tax exemption for the first five years and then a 50 percent tax rebate for the following five years. "Until recently the private sector did not trust the state for projects like these. It's slowly changing; now we want the (tourist office) to be seen as a partner, a facilitator," Bennis said. But Bennis, a 51-year-old trained economist who became last year the first woman to head the tourist office, said it hasn't been easy to bring about change. At her arrival six months ago after heading the Casablanca Stock Exchange for two years, she found "nit-picking and finicky yet lax civil servants," she said. She is now working to alter that "bureaucratic mentality". The agency's resources are limited -- an annual budget of 180 million dirhams, a staff of 180, including 60 abroad in 14 Moroccan tourist offices -- number 15 is to open soon in Vienna for eastern Europe. In another effort to boost tourism, Bennis said the government plans to provide financial help for the remodelling and opening of small stylish hotels in traditional Arab houses, known as riads. From Marrakesh to the former hippy hangout of Essaouira, on the Atlantic, these riads -- arranged around small courtyards with fountains and mosaic floors and often run by foreigners -- are found in the medinas, the old walled cities, and have become a favourite of travellers seeking quiet, exotic retreats.
(Additional reporting by Ali Bouzerda) ($1=11.529 Moroccan dirhams)
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=988889356nL036085§ion=Countries&page=Morocco
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Morocco, France sign agreements on small and medium sized enterprises.
Economics, 5/4/2001
Morocco and France signed in Paris Thursday cooperation agreements on small and medium sized enterprises (SME) and handicraft. The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the 4th meeting of the Moroccan-French high joint commission held in Paris Thursday, under the co-chairmanship of the two countries' Prime Ministers, Abderrahmane Youssoufi and Lionel Jospin. An agreement between the Moroccan ministry of social economy, SME and handicraft, and the French department of SME, trade, handicraft and consumption provides for the promotion of SME through exchange of information, assistance to innovation, and improvement of the quality of products produced by SME. A joint committee will be set up to elaborate and follow up a program of action. Another agreement between the Moroccan ministry of social economy, SME and handicraft, and the French Caisse des Depots et Consignation provides for backing to the creation of innovating enterprises, while a third agreement with the Bank for the Development of SME stipulates extending technical assistance to SME in matters of assessment of Moroccan SME financing needs and the setting up of financing and guarantee mechanisms. In the final declaration issued at the end of the commission meeting Thursday, Moroccan and French Prime Ministers, Abderrahmane Youssoufi and Lionel Jospin, called for a larger involvement of the two countries' small and medium enterprises (SME) to multiply investment and partnership opportunities. Besides promoting SME through the consolidation of financing mechanisms, they also convened to re-orient their cooperation towards sustained human development in Morocco through sustained action in education, social development, territory planning and legal cooperation. The two Prime Ministers convened to "establish a deep, regular economic and commercial dialogue" and to carry on their "close consultation" on issues related to the EU, the Euro-Mediterranean process and to all multilateral economic and financial issues. The chambers of commerce and industry of Paris and Rabat also signed a convention on institutional, technical and economic cooperation. The principle to convene an annual high level Moroccan-French meeting was decided during the state visit of the late King Hassan II to France in 1996. The 3rd meeting was held in Morocco (Fez and Marrakesh) in November 1999 and highlighted by the conversion of FF 700 million, part of Morocco's debts to France, into investments in the Kingdom. France is Morocco's first trade partner and is the first foreign investor in the country. Morocco is France's second partner among third Mediterranean countries and ranks on top of France's public loans and other assistance recipients with a total amount of 2.5 billions.
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/010504/2001050427.htm
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Phosphate, Fertilizer Production Increase.
Panafrican News Agency, May 3, 2001
Phosphate production in Morocco rose by 6.4 percent in volume in the first two months of this year as compared to 5.5 percent in 2000, the country's Board of General Economic Policy announced.
The board, an organ of the ministry of economy and finance, said the rise is due to the good performance of the phosphoric acid sector, whose production rose by 6.9 percent after falling by 4.4 percent in January-February 2000. Meanwhile, the production of fertilizers rose by 18.8 percent, the board added. Despite a difficult international environment, the export turnover of the Moroccan Board of Phosphates rose by 10.1 percent in February 2001. During the same period in 2000, the turnover fell by 3.4 percent, the board explained.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200105030107.html
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Industrial Production Up 3.5 Per Cent.
Panafrican News Agency, May 4, 2001
Morocco's General Economic Policy Board (DPEG) has reported a 3.5 per cent rise in industrial production in 2000, as against 2.4 per cent the previous year. The Board said the rise was thanks to performance in the food, textile and leather industries, whose production rose by 5.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. However, the rise was lower in the metal, electrical and electronic industries, from 6.6 per cent in 1999 to 3.5 per cent in 2000. In the electric and electronic appliances sector, the rise in production was stable at 0.6 per cent. In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries it fell from 4.8 per cent in 1999 to 3.4 per cent in 2000. According to DPEG estimates, industrial activity would rise by 4.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2001, as against 4.1 per cent in the same period last year.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200105040464.html
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Moroccan Films Win At Montreal African Festival.
Panafrican News Agency, May 2, 2001
Three Moroccan films were among ten award winners at the 17th African and Creole Festival of Montreal, "Vues d'Afrique," the Moroccan press reported Wednesday. Saad Chraïbi won the grand prix in the Fiction category while the award for short films went to Souad El Bouhati for his first film "Salam" (Peace. One of the five prizes in the documentaries category went to Yasmine Kassari's "When men cry." The grand prix for that category was awarded to Yamina Benguigui of Algeria for his film "The Perfumed Garden." With another short film, "The wall" (10 minutes) by Faouzi Bensaidi, Moroccan films were at the top of the list of award winners at the festival that was attended by 12,000 spectators in a week, according to organisers. The festival featured 64 African and Caribbean films and 15 video clips in Montreal, Quebec City and the federal capital Ottawa.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200105020311.html
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Morocco to Use Diplomatic Offices to Boost Export.
Morocco is preparing to use its diplomats to lure foreign investors and help domestic firms export. Some 40 officials are currently undergoing intensive training to familiarize them with business practices, the Moroccan business world and the nation's industrial needs. These officials will become economic advisors to be appointed in diplomatic offices abroad beginning September 1st. They are also expected to help domestic firms increase their exposure to foreign markets.
http://www.north-africa.com/one.htm
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Teletech to build major call-center complex.
Teletech International will build the Mediterranean's first call-center complex between Rabat and Casablanca, a decision that comes as a major boost to the thriving Moroccan call-center industry.
The Dh500 million seafront complex, to be built in partnership with Maroc Télécom, will include a client relations conference facility, a call-center training institute targeted at European center managers, several call-centers, and a hotel. The project is expected to generate approximately 6000 permanent jobs. Eleven call-centers are already operational in Morocco and three more are in construction. (Source: Upline)
http://www.north-africa.com/one.htm
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Morocco tenders for petroleum strategy consultancy.
RABAT, April 30 (Reuters) - Morocco said on Monday it had launched a tender for the selection of an international consultant to define an oil exploration strategy. State hydrocarbon research and exploration office ONAREP said in a statement the tender followed an intensified policy of exploration and promotion of Morocco's sedimentary basins. "ONAREP is considering a project in which an exploration strategy will be performed with the assistance of an international consultant or a consulting firm with large experience and solid references," it said. The consultant will set up an exploration strategy for ONAREP for the next five to 10 years. The North African country, which produces no oil, adopted last year a new hydrocarbon law which introduced substantial incentives and tax breaks to attract foreign investors.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=988631628nL3059208
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