FOM Newsletter January 2002
FOM Newsletter January 2002 Index
Morocco Week in Review
 January 12, 2002

Kuwaiti charity contributes to unhealthy housing fighting program in Morocco.
Morocco's trade deficit alleviated by 2.4% in oct.2001
Value of Morocco's grain imports increase despite lower quantities.
Morocco's textile and leather exports rise by 4.9%.
Morocco's Jan-Nov tourism receipts up 23.3 pct.
U.S. Congress delegation expected in Morocco today.
America appreciates Moroccan support after September 11 attacks.
France donates Morocco 4 mln euro for industrial upgrading and research.
Moroccan government examines measures to enforce king's creation of single investments desks.

Kuwaiti charity contributes to unhealthy housing fighting program in Morocco.

Kuwaiti charity association Arrahma Al Alamia will build 50 houses in Kenitra, 40 KM north of Rabat, to the benefit of 50 families supported by widows. The foundation stone of the project was laid down at a ceremony Wednesday in the presence of the association's chairman, Jassim Mohalhal Al Yassine. The dwellings will be built part of a housing project carried out by the Moroccan agency for unhealthy housing fighting. The project to be completed over six months, comprises a mosque, a vocational training center, and a female student dorm. The dwellings will have a surface area of 50 to 60m2 each. The project is part of the agency's efforts to alleviate the problem of unhealthy housing in the region of Gharb-Chrarda-Beni Hssen, where about 4,000 families live in shanty towns.

Morocco's trade deficit reached at the end of October 2001 some 36.25 billion DH (US$ 3.15 billion), a 2.4% decrease compared to the same period of 2000. According to latest figures released by the exchange office, exports totaled 65.23 billion DH (US$ 5.67 billion) -an increase of 0.7%- while imports were worth 101.48 billion DH (US$ 8.82 billion), regressing by 0.4%.  Moroccan exports were buoyed by an increase of 8.4% of phosphates and by-products, a 4.9% progression in textile and leather items and a 4.8% improvement in agro-food exports. Meanwhile, importation of transport equipment regressed by 55.5%, of crude oil by 2.1% and of unprocessed wood by 14.8%. However, imports of textile products, of cereals and of chemical products increased respectively by 13.7%, 13.9% and 6.2%. The evolution of exports compared to imports is behind the improvement of the coverage rate of imports by exports, which went up from 63.5% in end October 2000 to 64.3% in the corresponding period of 2001.

The value of Moroccan imports of cereals in the period between January and October 2001 reached 6.55 billion DH (US$ 569.5 million), increasing by 13.9% compared to the corresponding period of 2000. Figures released by the exchange office show that the volume of imported grains has however decreased by 2.9% to reach 3.34 million tons, compared to 4.46 million tons a year before. Morocco imported 2.8 million tons of wheat, 1.15 million tons of corn, and 889,600 tons of barley.

Exports of Moroccan textile and leather items reached 24.7 billion Dirhams (US$ 214 Mln) by the end of October 2001, which makes a rise of 4.9% in comparison with 2000. According to the Exchange Office, this rise is due to the progress made in the sales of clothing items (7.5%), shoes(12.3%), and cotton fabric (more than 100%). Textile and leather products rank on top of Morocco's overall exports (37.9% in 2001).

RABAT, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Morocco's tourism receipts for the January-November period of 2001 stood at 24.8 billion dirhams ($2.16 billion), up 23.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday. Despite the good performance, the growth of the receipts marked a slowdown compared to the first nine months of last year, before the September 11 attacks on the United States, the official said. In the January-September period of 2000, receipts rose 43 percent from their level a year before. "We expect 2001 total tourism receipts figure to rise by some 15-20 percent compared to 2000," the official told Reuters. The sector employs some 600,000 people and the government plans to quadruple the number of its foreign visitors to 10 million by 2010. It is investing some $5.2 billion in six seaside resorts. 

($1=11.499 Moroccan dirhams) (Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)

A delegation of US congressmen and staffers is expected in Morocco this Wednesday. The delegation, including 5 congressmen, is led by leader of the Democratic party in the U.S. House of Representatives, Richard Gephardt, a press release by the US embassy in Rabat said. The five Congressmen and staffers are to confer with senior Moroccan officials on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and international issues. Other visiting Congressmen include Ray LaHood, Republican from Illinois; Ciro Rodriguez, Democrat from Texas; Henry Waxman, Democrat from California; and Leonard Boswell, Democrat from Iowa. The delegation will wind up its visit on Jan.12.

France has donated Morocco 3.86 million Euro as a contribution to research in industry and upgrading Moroccan enterprise competitiveness. The Moroccan state will bring 176.2 Mln DH (17.2 Mln Euro), enterprises will contribute 11.5 Mln DH (1.12 Mln Euro) and non-governmental organizations will help with 0.6 Mln DH (0.58 Mln Euro). The convention signed in Rabat Tuesday by the two countries provides for supporting the creation of the Moroccan scientific and technical information institutes and networks for the dissemination of technologic and industrial engineering data. The project is set to bring Moroccan enterprises to the university and help innovation and creativity. It will also develop training to entrepreneurial jobs within universities and promote scientific research.

The convention was initialed by Moroccan minister of economy, finance, tourism and privatization, Fathallah Oualalou, and French ambassador in Morocco, Michel de Bonnecorse. The French ambassador announced that the two countries will sign other conventions in public health (1 Mln Euro) and basic education (6 Mln Euro).

Moroccan government examines measures to enforce king's creation of single investments desks.

The Moroccan government examined on Thursday, practical measures to enforce the King's decision, announced on Tuesday, to create single investment desks in each of Morocco's 16 regions. Prime minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, said the regional single investment desks are the most efficient means to build an economically-strong and socially-stable country and guarantee conditions for a decent life. He added that the royal letter on this subject defines the government's future missions. He called the government members to look into administrative procedures that need to be simplified and updated in order to reduce red tape for people wishing to create enterprises and urged the ministers to start delegating some of the central administrations' prerogatives to regional administrations and to walis (senior governors). The new experience in the management of investment devolution, he said, requires a charter of administrative devolution and the completion of studies for the investment charter updating in order to improve the Moroccan economy attractiveness and competitiveness and drain more capital and investors. Meanwhile, he recommended, all laws related to enterprise-creation should be enacted. Youssoufi also announced the creation of a commission that will be supervising reforms and that will hold its first meeting when the sovereign appoints Royal advisors who will be members. Youssoufi noted that the new approach will re-launch investments, consecrate the foundations of decentralization and devolution, promote the region in a frame of partnership with central administrations, regional authorities and elected bodies, and consolidate democracy and decentralized development. The regional single investment desks will vest more responsibilities on the government and consolidate its leading and strategic role in guaranteeing general conditions of economic, cultural and social take-off, respect of individual and collective liberties.

Return to Friends of Morocco Home Page