FOM Newsletter January 2002
FOM Newsletter January 2002 Index
Morocco Week in Review
 January 26, 2002

The United States are resolved to support ongoing reforms and economic liberalization in Morocco in order to enlarge prosperity horizons of Morocco, said in Rabat Wednesday visiting US trade representative, Robert Z. Zoellick. Zoellick, who is a member of US president George W. Bush cabinet, told reporters at a press conference following a meeting with King Mohammed VI that Morocco has made considerable development in social fields as well as in privatization and trade liberalization, citing new Royal instructions to the government to devolve investment issues to local authorities and the priority granted by the sovereign to education in rural areas. The US official who also met minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, finance, economy, privatization and tourism minister, Fathallah Oualalou, and visited a US-supported micro-finance association, said his country is ready to bring all support to drain investments in the kingdom, develop education and generate jobs and is currently exploring the possibility of concluding a free-trade agreement with Morocco. "King Mohamed has made economic reform and the establishment of a secure and attractive investment climate a priority of his Government," an official statement quoted Zoellick as saying. "Morocco has been a strong supporter of the United States' fight against terrorism following the tragedies of September 11," Zoellick went on. 

The United States conducts close to $1 billion in trade with Morocco. In 2000, the U.S. exported goods to Morocco totaling over $525 million, including aircraft, corn, wheat, soybeans, machinery and machine parts. U.S. imports from Morocco totaled $456million. In his meeting with the sovereign, Zoellick highlighted the interest the US government grants to the liberalization reforms and the recent investments measures announced by King Mohammed VI. He also touched on efforts under way to materialize a free trade accord between Morocco and the USA. King Mohammed VI voiced satisfaction over the efforts made by Rabat and Washington to consolidate their economic and commercial cooperation. The king stressed that Morocco is committed to a consolidated commercial partnership with the USA and recalled the experience Morocco has in this connection with the European Union and with a number of Arab states.

Some 94 percent of heads of enterprises polled by Transparency Maroc, an anti-corruption NGO, deem corruption a major brake to Morocco's development. According to the poll, whose results were disclosed Wednesday, Moroccan households consider corruption as the second major issue of concern afterjoblessness. The poll, conducted on a specimen of 1000 heads of enterprises and 400 households, shows that corruption worsens in Morocco mainly due to the lack of sanctions (90 percent of businessmen and 80 percent of households). The majority of polled businessmen and households think that corruption exists everywhere in the public and private institutions. Some 69 percent of households and 80 percent of businessmen believe that corruption is frequent among the politicians of the country.

The general population census in Morocco, initially scheduled for 2002, was postponed to 2003. The postponement was decided by the government council at its weekly meeting held in Rabat Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi. The decision was motivated by the holding of parliamentary elections next September. The census mobilizes some 70,000 teachers and a large number of civil servants from the ministry of the interior.

The United Nations Non Governmental Committee recommended to of the UN Social and Economic Council (ECOSOC) to grant five Moroccan a special consultative status membership. After examining new membership requests, the committee recommended granting the five Moroccan associations the status of special consultative member. The five associations are the Moroccan Association for Solidarity and Development, the Moroccan Association for Rural Women Promotion, and the Moroccan Association for Help and Support to Mentally Handicapped Persons. The committee, whose session will close on January 25, is composed of 19 countries elected by the ECOSOC for a four-year mandate. It helps various UN bodies in their relations with ngos. The consultative members have to submit a detailed report on their activities every four years. More than 1,500 Ngos have the consultative status in the council. The admitted Ngos may send observers to the public meetings of the council and its subsidiary organs, or send written correspondence on the works of the council. They may as well consult the UN secretary general on common interest issues.

An inter-ministerial commission in charge of studying investment projects approved on Monday five projects worth 737 million DH (US$ 64.08 Mln) expected to generate 2,200 jobs. The commission, chaired by premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi, asked the competent authorities to check with promoters of two tourism projects, worth 447 million DH (US$ 38.8 Mln), environment-related provisions of the related conventions. The three other approved projects, worth 290 Mln DH (US$ 25.2 Mln), are about the manufacturing of cable, textile and electronic devices. Since its creation, the commission approved a total of 169 projects and conventions for a total value of 67.2 billion DH (US$ 5.8 Bln).

WASHINGTON, Jan.11 - "Travelling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battouta (1325-1354)" is the title of a new book for English-speaking schoolchildren, written by former Peace Corps member, James Rumford. The book relates the adventures of Ibn Battouta, a Moroccan globe trotter who lived in the fourteenth century and who roamed as far as China. Rumford, himself a travel lover and admirer of Ibn Battouta, said he wrote the book to initiate young Americans to the Islamic civilization and history.

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