FOM Newsletter November 2001
Morocco Week in Review
 November 10,  2001

The Moroccan children parliament is holding in parallel to the Marrakesh negotiations on the Kyoto protocol a session to debate issues related to climatic changes and their adverse effects on earth. The junior representatives heard presentations by chairman of the Marrakesh conference, Moroccan minister of territory development, urbanism, housing and environment, Mohamed El Yazghi, and the convention executive secretary, Michael Zammit Cutajar, on the framework- convention provisions, the Kyoto protocol and stances of various countries regarding the protocol. The young representatives asked questions on the usefulness of the framework-convention for Morocco which is a developing country and not a large polluter, and on possibilities of harmonizing lasting development requirements in developing countries and their commitment to reduce gas emissions. The questions also revolved around the way in which Morocco will apply the Kyoto protocol and the possibility of setting up a standing commission to follow up respect of the protocol by signatory countries, especially industrialized ones. The children parliament will adopt a declaration that will be submitted Wednesday to the official opening ceremony of the ministerial conference.

Morocco will build a 2,000 MW capacity solar power station whose production will be partly exported to Europe.The station will be built under a convention that was signed in Marrakesh Thursday between the Moroccan center for the promotion of renewable energies (CDER), a European consortium "SOLRAMUNDO" and a Kuwaiti promoter, Adnan Al-Hamoud. The station-produced electricity will consolidate Morocco's electricity assets  and will be used in sea water desalination projects. The convention, that falls in the frame of incentives to clean energy, also provides for the transfer of know-how to Moroccan local industries. The job-generating project opens the Moroccan electricity market to private investors and will be a source of sustained development. The convention was initialed by CDER general manager, Abdelhanine Benallou, SOLARMUNDO chairman, Miguel Sureda, and the Kuwaiti promoter, Adnan Al-Hamoud.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI will officially launch here on Thursday the 4th solidarity campaign under the theme "Let's all participate in the solidarity chain," said Zoulikha Nasri, advisor to the sovereign and member of the administrative board of the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation.  Nasri told MAP the Foundation campaign will enable it carry on its actions meant to improve children living conditions, support disabled persons, help aged persons and assist Moroccan expatriates who spend their holidays in Morocco. The foundation will also carry on its meal-distribution operation during the fasting month of Ramadhan for over 2.5 million persons. She went on that the novelty in the foundation action lies in endeavors for lasting development, through supporting infrastructure projects and activities geared towards raising the populations living standards. Funds raised during this campaign will serve to build, extend, renovate or equip two social centers for abandoned children, and other training centers nationwide, in addition to increase the schooling of girls in rural areas through the construction of dorms and improving the training of disabled persons. Other projected actions will seek to improve the equipment in 15 hospitals, ensure decent living conditions to old persons, improve the accommodation of hundreds of students, contribute to lasting development to least favored persons in the countryside, and increase access to basic facilities.

Morocco has called for rethinking strategies and approaches to security issues in light of the new international data consecutive to the September 11 events. The new international data resulting from the September 11 events requires to rethink the strategies and approaches to security issues, said Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, at the opening of the Euro-Mediterranean ministerial conference held in Brussels Nov.5-6. The move is all the more necessary for the Mediterranean region that must adopt a common and concerted strategy to face up a threat that is global and not localized, he said. He insisted on the need to reach genuine consensus when it comes to security and development issues and the necessity for all the countries of the region to honor their commitments. Benaissa recalled Morocco's spontaneous commitment to international efforts to fight the plague of terrorism and its active contribution to ongoing negotiations on the elaboration of a general convention on terrorism. He also recalled that Morocco signed last month the international convention on suppression of terrorism financing that was adopted by the UN general assembly on December 9, 1999, and that at the initiative of King Mohammed VI, Morocco hosted on Oct.25-26 an extraordinary session of the Mediterranean forum. During this session, he said, the 11 foreign ministers of Arab and European Mediterranean countries pledged to join efforts to fight terrorism under all its forms. When the sovereign received the participants in the session, he stressed the need to establish a permanent, structured and strategic dialogue between Mediterranean countries and to initiate a genuine dialogue of cultures in a bid to take into account the human dimension of Euro-Mediterranean partnership and to foster understanding between the two shores of the Mediterranean, Benaissa said. After he deplored the shortcomings of the Euro-Mediterranean process, Benaissa recalled the Moroccan proposal to set up a security and cooperation conference in the Mediterranean, that will be a permanent, regular and global frame for dialogue and consultation and a frame to discuss issues related to peace and security in the Mediterranean. Benaissa who deplored the development gaps between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean called for the promotion of cooperation between these shores in the frame of a dialogue between civilizations, cultures and religions, based on tolerance and the will to know and understand the other, while avoiding amalgam and prejudices.

Moroccan enterprises less optimistic on perspectives in Oct-Dec 2001, survey.

A survey conducted by the employers' association (CGEM) shows that enterprises see less promising activity perspectives in the last three months of 2001 than in Jan-Oct 2001.  About one third of the 296 surveyed enterprises said they expect a stagnation of global production and sales, another 21% forecast a slump in production and 25% predict a contraction of sales, compared to 16% and 18% in the Aug-Oct.2001. Fears of activity regression were mainly expressed by enterprises operating in tourism and chemical and para-chemical industries, followed by textile, computer and telecoms sectors.  Regarding the July-Sept period, the survey found that the number of enterprises, which recorded an increase in their production level, remains unchanged (36%) while that of enterprises whose global sales  progressed went up from 35% to 40%. During this period, the percentage of enterprises which recorded a stagnation of their production, sales and exports has regressed. Meanwhile, 55% of enterprises said production was sufficient and 28% said it was largely sufficient, compared to 28% and 63% in Apr.-June 2001. Regarding exports, 26% of the polled companies report a stagnation, 20% a  decrease and 17% a progression.The survey also reveals that for 56% general orders remained normal, while 30% said foreign orders were low.

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/011106/2001110632.html

Morocco's permanent representative to the UNESCO, Aziza Bennani, was elected Monday President of the UN agency's executive council. Elected unanimously at the first round of the vote, Ms. Bennani will replace Honduran Sonia Mendieta de Badaroux. The Moroccan diplomat becomes the first Arab woman to hold the position. "The election is an honor for me and for my country, which is resolutely engaged on the path of modernization and democratization and which shares with UNESCO the values of tolerance, dialogue and peace," said Ms. Bennani, a former Moroccan culture minister (1994-1998). The 58-member UNESCO executive council meets twice a year to assess the implementation of the projects adopted by the organization's general conference.

Mohammed v solidarity foundation: 600 million dh spent or earmarked in 1998-2002

The amounts Spent or earmarked by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation in the 1998-2002 period are worth 600 Mln DH (US$ 54.5 Mln), according to official figures released Monday here.  The Foundation held a press conference to present its accounts and financial situation and the evaluation of the trip in central and southern Morocco undertaken by King Mohammed VI (Oct.14 through Nov.3). The Foundation has been focusing its action on struggle against poverty, to raise living standards, especially in rural areas, reduce illiteracy and encourage children's schooling, especially girls. Working in coordination with local associations and administrations, the Foundation has allocated 107 Mln DH (US$ 9.7 Mln) for the construction and rehabilitation of 271 centers accommodating some 40,000 children nationwide. A total of 30 Mln DH (US$ 2.7 Mln) was earmarked to build 12 girls' dorms in rural areas in order to enable girls living far from schools carry on their studies.  During the same period, a budget of 100 Mln DH (US$ 9.09 Mln) went to improving the living conditions of handicapped persons, including persons with mental disorders, physical disabilities and visually-impaired persons, through the reconstruction and extension of centers in various regions. In addition to the distribution of fast-breaking meals to some 2.5 million persons in rural areas during the holy month of Ramadan, and the assistance to Moroccan expatriates who come to spend holidays in Morocco, the Foundation has initiated several training projects, worth 113 Mln DH (US$ 10.2 Mln).   Other fields of action comprise the building of students' residence (120 Mln DH or US$ 10.9 Mln) in addition to refurbishing 10 social charity centers.

Mohammed solidarity foundation-sponsored projects dedicated during king's tour worth 110 million dh. 

Politics, 11/6/2001

The funds allocated by the Mohammed V solidarity Foundation to the projects that King Mohammed VI has dedicated or visited during his trip in central and southern Morocco (Oct.14 through Nov.3) are worth 110 million DH (US$ 10 Mln). According to Azeddine Benmoussa, accountant and administrator at the Foundation, most of the projects are located in rural areas and target the poorest social layers. They seek to achieve lasting development, consolidate medical infrastructure and equipment, promote schooling and training and integrate handicapped persons. The Foundation executive who gave details on the Foundation financial situation, fund-collecting and expenses, insisted on the transparency marking all the foundation's operations. After he noted that the Foundation's assets now stand at 406 million DH (US$ 37 Mln) and commitments at 400 Mln DH (US$36.6 Mln), he said the Foundation is depending on the generosity of Moroccans to launch additional actions and s ocial programs.

MARRAKESH, Morocco, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Water resources in Morocco are expected to shrink by up to 35 percent in the next 20 years, leading to a sharp fall in cereals output, an official said on Tuesday. Faouzi Senhaji of state-run National Agricultural Researches Institute (INRA) told Reuters: "This should result in a 10-50 percent fall in cereals output productivity per hectare depending on the regions where the cereals are cultivated." Senhaji was speaking in the southern city of Marrakesh on the sidelines of U.N. talks aimed at sealing a climate change treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. Morocco consumes an average six million tonnes of cereals each year. "By 2020, we will be 35 million (population), requiring 8.5 million tonnes of cereals for our national consumption," he added.  Participants at the two-week conference, which started on October 29, were welcomed by a heatwave in a period which normally sees heavy rainfall. Morocco is seeking to ensure minimum cereals production of six million tonnes per year. But drought has hit output in the last two campaigns, resulting in total cereals output of 1.8 million and 4.5 million tonnes, respectively. 

(Souhail Karam, Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499,

MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov 05, 2001 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- Office equipment maker Ricoh Co. on Monday received the "Climate is Business" award in Marrakech from the European Business Council for a Sustainable Energy Future and the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Energy, company officials said. The two groups presented the award to Ricoh for its efforts to protect the global climate and for being one of the first Japanese companies to support the early enforcement of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The company was also lauded for its role in improving energy efficiency and energy management. Ricoh has developed a copy machine which uses only one-eighth of the energy consumed in the 1991 model. The copier has seen brisk sales to western governments due to its energy-saving feature, they said. "We have created an environment-friendly product which at the same time has economical value," said Tatsuo Tani, head of the company's social environment division, during the awards ceremony. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945

Tourism receipts in Morocco are scheduled to exceed this year the 22.5 billion DH amount (US$ 2.04 bln) reached in 2000, said Hassan El Kassimi, secretary general of the tourism ministry. The official told MAP although Morocco will be affected, like all other countries, by the events of last September 11, it remains a safe destination. He noted that tourism activities regressed by about 10% in September and this regression could reach 25 to 30% according to regions in October.To avert a crisis in the sector, both private and public operators are resolved to make all efforts, he said before announcing the creation of a committee comprising representatives from the ministry and private operators to assess problems and adopt solutions.

Moroccan enterprises less optimistic on perspectives in Oct-Dec 2001, survey

A survey conducted by the employers' association (CGEM) shows that enterprises see less promising activity perspectives in the last three months of 2001 than in Jan-Oct 2001. About one third of the 296 surveyed enterprises said they expect a stagnation of global production and sales, another 21% forecast a slump in production and 25% predict a contraction of sales, compared to 16% and 18% in the Aug-Oct.2001. Fears of activity regression were mainly expressed by enterprises operating in tourism and chemical and para-chemical industries, followed by textile, computer and telecoms sectors.Regarding the July-Sept period, the survey found that the number of enterprises, which recorded an increase in their production level, remains unchanged (36%) while that of enterprises whose global sales progressed went up from 35% to 40%. During this period, the percentage of enterprises which recorded a stagnation of their production, sales and exports has regressed. Meanwhile, 55% of enterprises said production was sufficient and 28% said it was largely sufficient, compared to 28% and 63% in Apr.-June 2001. Regarding exports, 26% of the polled companies report a stagnation, 20% a decrease and 17% a progression. The survey also reveals that for 56% general orders remained normal, while 30% said foreign orders were low.

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