FOM Newsletter December 2002
Morocco Week in Review December 6 2002 

RABAT, Dec.04 - Morocco's external trade, remittances of Moroccan expatriates, tourism revenues and hard currency reserves have improved between January and October 2002, compared to 2001, said Fathallah Oualalou, minister of finance and privatization in a presentation before a government meeting on Tuesday.   The coverage rate of imports by exports reached 67.5% by end October 2002, compared to 63.4% in 2001, due to good performance of sea products exports, the minister told the government council.  Meanwhile tourism revenues were worth 19.9 billion DH (US$ 1.89 million), scoring a 17.8% growth as compared to the average recorded over the last five years, while expatriates remittances maintained their good level (29.5 billion DH or US$ 2.8 billion). The central bank's hard currency reserves increased by 3.7 billion DH (US$ 352 million) to reach 103 billion DH (US$ 9.8 billion).  Furthermore, he went on, the growth rate of 4.5% was possible thanks to a good production of agriculture destined to export and the positive evolution of other productive sectors.  Of public finances, the minister cited the increase by 1.8 billion DH (US$ 171.4 Million) in ordinary receipts other than privatization, as a result of an improvement in fiscal income and the drop by 800 million DH (US$ 76 million) in debt servicing. The treasury deficit, which reached 7.4 billion DH (US$ 704.7 million) was financed in good conditions while external debt will drop by 9 billion DH (US$ 857 million) to stand at 28.9% of the GDP.  The government meeting looked into amendments to the finance law in order to adapt it to the government program adopted by the House of Representatives last week. The amendments consist in increasing funds allocated to the health and vocational training sectors. The 200 million DH will be re-allocated from the budget of other ministries.

Morocco is trying a novel approach in privatization and zoo management. The government is looking for a private entity to take over an organization that has always been considered public domain. And there have been growing interest among potential operators. Indeed following a call made by the Moroccan government, not less than 30 companies have responded and expressed interest in managing and operating the Rabat zoological park.  

http://www.north-africa.com 

In spite of its character of holiness, the month of Ramadan is a period of increased illegal trade activity. Contraband and black market activities reached record levels during the ongoing fasting month of Ramadan, a phenomenon that seems to affect the entire region of North Africa.

PARIS, Dec.03- France has earmarked 82.500 Euros to help Moroccans, following the recent the floods in Morocco that left 63 dead and 17 injured, the French foreign department said. The financial aid will be used to purchase motor driven pumps and power generators.

Dec 5, 2002 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX) -- The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has agreed to provide $50 million in credit for the sale of American agricultural products in Morocco. Exporters can submit applications for credit guarantees to export livestock, wheat or feed grains. The new credit issuance falls under the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Intermediate Export Credit Guarantee Program. The CCC administers export credit guarantee programs for commercial financing of US agricultural exports.  The programs encourage exports to buyers in countries where credit is necessary to maintain or increase US sales, but where financing may not be available without CCC guarantees.The Intermediate Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-103) covers credit terms up to 10 years. Agriculture plays a major role in the Moroccan economy accounting for up to 18 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and nearly 40 percent of employment. US exports to Morocco averaged $475 million annually over the past six years, with cereals as one of the lead sectors. - (menareport.com)

By Mena Report Reporters (C) 2002 Albawaba.com, All rights reserved.

The rural electrification program (PERG) in Morocco is moving at a slow pace.  From 2000 to November 2002, the number of villages that benefited from PERG grew by only 3% to 1,760. This is according to the utility firm ONE, which released its annual report for 2001-2002. Although the pace of rural electrification has been slow, the company had to step up its acquisition of electrical transformers. A total of 8,588 transformers of various capacities were installed for a total installed power base of 74 MVA.  ONE says the PERG program calls for total electrification of the rural world by 2008. The program is in its third phase with 5,181 villages targeted representing 318,354 households spread across 50 provinces. The cost of this phase is estimated at DH 3.8 billion. When phase 3 is completed in 2004, 70% of the rural world is expected to have electricity.

RABAT, Dec.05 - Moroccan finance and privatization minister, Fathallah Oualalou, said the 2003 finance bill provides for the creation of 7,000 jobs at the civil service, a figure that is almost equal to civil servants who will retire.  In an interview with "L'Economiste" daily, the official said early retirement is a measure that will affect 60,000 civil servants in the three coming years while in the private sector the measure will affect 60,000 wage-earners.  To a question on projected measures to control tax evasion and fraud, the minister said two types of actions are envisioned: a structural one that is about the country's modernization and that concerns upgrading Moroccan economy's competitiveness, fighting smuggling and others and the second type  of solution is geared towards carrying on the process to improve the tax-collecting administration.  He further explained that exempting Moroccan expatriates' band deposits from taxes will be effective starting January 2003.  On the financing of projects promised in the government's program, Oualalou said privatization receipts, worth 12.5 billion DH (US$ 1.19 billion) are expected to be generated from the privatization of 16% of Maroc-Telecom and of the tobacco company "Regie des Tabacs". He added that customs duties will decrease as a result of Morocco's international commitments and of tariffs dismantling.

Morocco's citrus fruits exports fell 40% year on year to 23,200 tons as of November 2002. Agricultural authorities attribute this collapse of exports to slow progress in the growth of the fruits proper, particularly in the Berkane region. The majority of the fruits are of the clementine type. The fruits originate from Souss (58%), eastern Morocco (40%) and the central growing regions (2%).  Although the decline is less dramatic for the early crops, this category's export volumes fell by 23% during the 2002 farm season to 24,500 tons. The volume of tomato exports fell by 30% to 16,500 tons while exported  quantities of other fruits and vegetables remained stable at 8,000 tons during the period (January to November 2002).

The National Federation of the Agribusiness sector (Fédération nationale de l'agroalimentaire), an industry association affiliated to the CGEM confederation of Moroccan enterprises, has recently released the second edition of the sector's directory. The directory contains information on 1,000 companies active in the food sector in Morocco.

http://www.north-africa.com/one.htm 

Spanish telecom firm Telefonica says its total client base reached 33.4 million in September 2002, up 20% from last year. The bulk of its clients is in Spain with 18.1 million subscribers and another 13.5 million in Latin America while its clients in Morocco, subscribers serviced by Telefonica's unit Meditelecom reached 1.5 million.

The European Commission has approved a spending plan within the Meda program in favor of Morocco for the upcoming year. The EU program is a financial contribution of 122 million euros to be spent among various projects. Among the projects considered is a 5 million euros earmarked to strengthen the bases of the association agreement linking Morocco to the EU with the aim of establishing a free trade zone by 2010.

RABAT, Dec.05 - Morocco has decided to request a preliminary declaration before allowing access of over 15-year-old single hulled vessels carrying hazardous products to its Exclusive Economic Zone. A statement of the equipment and transport ministry says Morocco, in its capacity as associate member of the European Union and neighboring country of the Prestige catastrophe location, adheres to the cooperation modalities proposed by the French-Spanish summit held in Malaga last November and supports the measures projected by the summit in order to guarantee the safety of sailing and avoid the recurrence of this kind of catastrophes in the future. Morocco also stands ready to support and defend measures projected by the summit at the international competent organizations. Therefore, Morocco will be requesting a preliminary declaration of single hulled vessels, aged over 15, carrying products that can be harmful to marine environment.  The vessels' crews are requested to produce any useful information, mainly those related to the nature of the cargo, the identity of the ship-maker and the chartering company and the destination of the goods.

The Moroccan authorities have selected seven construction groups eligible to compete for the construction of the new port of Tangiers on the Mediterranean.  The groups are Ballast Ham-Grandi Lavori, which is a consortium of companies from the Netherlands and Italy, Boskalis-Archirodon-Drapor from the Netherlands and Morocco, Bouygues Travaux Publics-Bouygues Offshore-Bymaro of France, Daewoo Engineering & Construction from South Korea, Skanska from Sweden, Societa Italiana Per Condotte Acqua-Dredging International from Italy and the Netherlands, and Sogea Satom -Jan DeNul-Somagec from France, the Netherlands, and Morocco. Pre-selected companies have until January 20, 2003 to submit their bids and the winner will be announced on February 17, 2003.

RABAT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Morocco 2003 draft budget expects a 6.5 percent drop in customs receipts due mainly to a gradual dismantling of tariffs with its main trade partner, the European Union, a senior finance ministry official said on Monday.  Finance and Privatisation Minister Fathallah Oualalou presented on Friday evening the first draft budget of the new government led by technocrat Premier Driss Jettou, who has pledged drastic economic and social reform to fight poverty and unemployment. Jettou has said his government would target a 4.0 percent average annual GDP growth in 2000-2004. "The 2003 budget targets a 4.5 percent growth in GDP and an inflation rate of 2.0 percent, both unchanged from 2002," the official said. The decline in customs receipts in the 163 billion dirhams ($15.3 billion) budget, will however be compensated by a 7.86 percent rise in internal taxes, the official added noting that the rise in taxes would stem mainly from corporate tax. "The budget deficit will be at 3.0 percent," he said. Final figures for the budget deficit in 2002 are not available yet, but the official said "we are trying our best to make it below 5.0 percent". Financial analysts expect the 2002 budget deficit to hit 5.0 to 6.0 percent because of a drop in privatisation receipts after failure to sell some state assets in telecoms, sugar refining and tobacco.  "Privatisation receipts for 2003 are expected to reach 12.5 billion dirhams," the official added. The 2003 budget was based on a $24 per barrel crude price and a recovery of the European economy, the official added. Less positive aspects of the budget include a 3.7 percent rise in the government's operating costs at 78.2 billion dirhams, a 2.3 percent jump in the public wage bill at 52.2 billion dirhams and a 2.0 decline in public investment at 19.5 billion dirhams. The draft budget is under debate in the lower-house of parliament. Morocco's GDP is estimated at around 412.8 billion dirhams in 2002, official data showed.  

((Souhail Karam, Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499,rabat.newsroom@reuters.com ))  ($1=10.651 Moroccan dirhams)

Fourth Global Forum On Reinventing Government In Marrakech, Morocco 11-13 December

NEW YORK, 4 December -- Marrakech -- one of the traditional capitals of the Arab world, as well as the site of modern-day negotiations leading to the creation of the World Trade Organization -- will be the venue of a 2002 ministerial-level global meeting on making governments more responsive to citizens and private sectors, modernizing their operations and reconciling the values of local societies with the sweeping culture of globalization. The Fourth Global Forum on Reinventing Government takes place 11 to 13 December, organized by the Government of Morocco with support from the United Nations and the World Bank. More than 1,200 participants from over 100 countries will meet in the Palais des Congres in Marrakech, including Rafiq Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon; Apolo Nsibambi, the Prime Minister of Uganda; Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou; Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; more than 40 national ministers; and up to 20 mayors; along with governance experts, chief executive officers and civil society leaders.  United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be represented at the Forum by Under-Secretary-General Mervat Tallaway, the Executive Director of the Beirut-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Discussion of means to implement substantial governmental reforms will be organized into four parallel sessions, each chaired by a political leader or eminent expert. Reports from session leaders and a final official statement will be issued at the closing plenary meeting, 2:30 to 4 p.m., 13 December. The Forum itself will be preceded by two days of intensive training sessions for high-level government officials, 10 to 11 December, organized by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, Transparency International and other institutions, and sponsored by the Government of Italy. Twenty-nine ministers and 10 mayors are scheduled to participate in the exercises.  "The Forum will deliver a strong message in favour of good governance and partnerships for democracy and development", said Guido Bertucci, Director of the United Nations Division for Public Economics and Public Administration. "It will identify concrete means to improve functioning of the public sector and to redefine governance modes and priorities."  

The Global Forum on Reinventing Government is held once a year. The First Global Forum, hosted by the United States, took place in Washington, D.C., in1999. Succeeding Forum venues were Brasilia and Naples, sponsored respectively by the Governments of Brazil and of Italy. Action on issues relating to governance, democracy and the role of the State have taken on increasing urgency since the first Global Forum was held. Quality of governance is considered to be a central factor in rebuilding war-torn countries and in healing societies divided by ethnic or religious tensions. It is also judged to be critical in enabling countries to hold their own in the rising tide of globalization, and to implement the goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Good governance is a central component of the recently approved New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and governance criteria are now incorporated in most development assistance prorammes. Drives against corruption are underway at multilateral bodies ranging from NEPAD and the United Nations General Assembly to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Several major side events are taking place in association with the Forum:  

-- On 9 December, development practitioners from Arab countries will meet to establish criteria to assess how well government programmes work for the poor.  

-- Also on 9 December, Arab development practitioners will review anti-corruption and accountability programmes.

-- South African Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser Moloketi will address a 12 December meeting on "Building e-governance capacity in African countries". Meeting recommendations will be forwarded to NEPAD.

-- Following the close of the Forum, 60 development practitioners will meet14-15 December to review national experiences in decentralizing government.

In addition, the grounds surrounding the Palais des Congres will be occupied by exhibitions from business and non-governmental organizations to present innovative ideas fields such as urban management, sanitary systems, e-health, e-learning, water and power supply, telecommunications and transportation. For more information on the Global Forum or to arrange interviews with United Nations officials, contact Tim Wall of the United Nations Department of Public Information, telephone 1-212-963-5851, cell phone in Marrakech after 8 December 1-917-815-0135, e-mail <wallt@un.org>.

For Conference documents and background materials, and to arrange media accreditation for the Fourth Global Forum, visit the Forum Web site at: http://www.unpan.org/conf_globalforum02.asp 

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