Virtual Magazine of Morocco on the Web  
Morocco Week in Review  
July 2 2005

US-Morocco trade pact delayed until 2006
Thu June 30, 2005 WASHINGTON (Reuters)

A trade agreement between the U.S. and Morocco which was due to come into force this week and open a new market for U.S. beef among other agricultural products, has been delayed until 2006, a U.S. trade official told Reuters on Wednesday. Under the terms of the pact, completed in March 2004, the United States and Morocco agreed not to use agricultural export subsidies in each others'
markets. Morocco agreed to provide preferential market access for all U.S. agricultural products by phasing out tariffs in installments on a product-specific basis.

The agreement was due to come into force on July 1. "We have been working very closely with the Moroccans as they draft the laws and regulations needed to implement the FTA (free trade agreement)," the U.S. trade official said. "They have informed us that their Parliament will need until at least October to pass these new laws and amendments. They have proposed that the agreement enter into force January 1, 2006. We believe this proposal is realistic." The delay is disappointing for U.S. beef as the agreement will eventually open up a market previously closed to it. Morocco's tariffs on beef are as high as 275 percent.

"Our market is almost nonexistent there today for U.S. product. What we were focusing in on for the Moroccan market was to begin servicing the hotel and restaurant, the tourism trade, with high-quality grain fed product that they can't get out of Europe or other closer markets," said Richard Fritz, vice president, trade development for the U.S. Meat Export Federation. "A delay puts that off some, which isn't good news for either them or us because we were talking about helping them enhance and improve their tourism trade by doing some training for their hotel chefs over there."

U.S. wheat firms would also have benefited substantially from the trade agreement, given a reduced durum supply at the moment due to drought in Morocco, Spain and Italy. "U.S. Wheat Associates is quite disappointed about any delay in this FTA. It has important provisions for the U.S. wheat producers," a spokesperson for the group said. "When it is implemented, it will give U.S. wheat the same competitive footing as wheat imported from the EU so the sooner this gets resolved, the better." Under the bill passed by Congress to implement the FTA, the President is required to determine that Morocco is in compliance with the FTA's obligations before the agreement can enter into force, the U.S. trade official said. "Both the United States and Morocco are keen to have this agreement go into effect as soon as possible, so that both sides can begin to realize its benefits. While everyone made best efforts to make the necessary legal and regulatory changes, Morocco simply ran out of time," the official said. The Moroccan Parliament is in recess from mid-July until the second week of October.
http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=8937231
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Renal failure may cause over USD 88.7 Mn loss in 2005.
Casablanca, June 29

Renal failure would cause financial losses estimated at MAD 809m (around USD 88.7 Mn) to the Moroccan economy in 2005, said Amale Bourquia, chairwoman of the association "Reins" for combating renal failure. Presenting, here Monday, the results of the first pharmaco-economic study on hemodialysis and renal grafting, Bourquia explained that 80% of the losses the Moroccan economy will sustain will be in hard currency. She added that by 2010, over 24000 persons would be suffering from renal failure, which would cause about MAD 1.7b (USD 1 = MAD 9.12) in hemodialysis treatments. Grafting, she said, would be the ideal solution to spare the current 3900 renal failure patients a lot of money, and help develop this medical practice and the early screening of the disease. She called on, in this respect, officials to include grafting techniques in a national health program.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box3/renal_failure_may_ca/view
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Tourism to generate about 80 thousand jobs by 2010, Minister.
Rabat, June 29 

Tourism is expected to generate about 80,000 direct jobs and 400,000 indirect jobs by 2010, Tourism Minister, Adil Douiri affirmed Wednesday. The Moroccan government aspires to promote the country's tourism industry to attract 10 million tourists by 2010. In 2004, over five million tourists visited the north African country, mainly from France and Spain. In an interview published Wednesday by "Al Alam" Arabic-speaking daily, Douiri underlined that the accommodating capacity of hotels has appreciably increased, reflecting the six-time increase of hotel construction rhythm. He added that this dynamic has lifted the income of the sector, which stood in 2004, at MAD 34b (around USD 37.3m), increasing job opportunities as well. The minister also unveiled a three-phase strategy to promote internal tourism.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_economy/tourism_to_generate/view
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Civil society to be involved in human development Initiative, Minister.
Rabat, June 29 

The government is mulling comprehensive consultations to associate the civil society and local authorities in the implementation of the National Initiative for Human Development (NIHD), said here Wednesday, Communication minister and Government spokesman Nabil Benabdallah. The large-scale initiative, launched last May 18 by HM King Mohammed VI, targets an all-out human development in the country. It is scheduled to start in the second half of 2005 and to be carried out on 5 years. Benabdallah told a press conference at the end of a cabinet meeting, that the government cannot handle the details of this initiative without involving the civil society in its projects. He said the government will contribute by 60% to this MAD 10b (USD 1.1b) project, while local authorities will contribute by 20%. The rest will be allocated by international contributors.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_social/civil_society_to_be/view
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Forest fire consumes 6 ha in Temara.
Temara, June 27

Fire consumed Sunday 6 ha of a forest in Temara (about 20 km south of Rabat), said Civil Protection officer, Hamid Mouatez.
The causes of the fire have not been identified yet, but human responsibility is not excluded as the forest is close to the coastal road.  Fifty fire fighters were mobilised to control the fire, that comes on the morrow of the fires that consumed lately 750ha in Larache, Kenitra and Tangiers (North of Morocco). Fires destroyed some 1,200 Ha of forests in Morocco between May and June. In 2004, they destroyed 8,660ha (0.09% of total national forests. Forest fires are more important during the summer, notably in the period June-October. The kingdom has dedicated MAD 180 million, 18 million euros, for 2005 action plan for fires prevention, forests cleaning and surveillance.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/general/forest_fire_consumes/view
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Initial One billion euros earmarked for human development initiative.
Agadir, 27 juin 

More than MAD 10 billion, around 1 billion euros, have been earmarked to carry out the priority projects provided for by the Moroccan Initiative for Human Development (INDH) during the 2006-2010 period. The funding convention of the initiative, known by its French acronym INDH, was signed here Monday by HM King Mohammed VI after it was worked out in five weeks, in the morrow of the Royal speech on May 18 that announced the large-scale, social policy based on integrated programs to reduce social disparities and fight exclusion. It is designed to provide basic infrastructure to millions, from adequate housing and drinking water to health care and education.

The convention, which was also signed by the Prime minister, the ministers of finance and the interior and the Hassan II Fund executive board president, provides for additional and progressive spending that will amount to MAD 1,5 billion in 2006 to reach MAD 2.5 billion by 2010. The instrument is setting up this current year a special account (INDH support fund) in anticipation of the 2006 appropriation bill to secure additional and specific funding to the initiative. The earmarked funds are drawn from the State general budget that is contributing 60%, local collectivities 20% and international cooperation 20%. For the second quarter of 2005, MAD 250 million have been allocated to start on-the-terrain actions, contributed to by the State budget with MAD 50 million, local collectivites 100 million and the Hassan II Fund MAD 100 million. After 2010, INDH funding needs will be reconsidered to identify resource consolidation mechanisms, according to future needs.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/initial_one_billion/view
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Morocco to allocate extra US$ 155 million to reform health sector.
Casablanca, June 25 

The Moroccan government will allocate an extra MAD 1.4 billion (nearly US$ 155 million) to reform the health sector, said, here Friday, Moroccan Health minister, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah. Speaking at a debate themed "Realities, prospects and challenges", the minister said the reform aims at improving the quality of health services and make them closer to all Moroccan citizens.During the last four years, 10 out of the Moroccan 124 public hospitals have become modern hospitals with an administrative staff able to face the quality, medicare security and cost control challenges, he said.

The government sets up also five investment programmes to create a new generation of modern hospitals that meet international standards.The programmes aim at creating 16 new hospitals and developing University Hospital Centers (UHC) notably in Marrakech and Fez (Centre) and building a new UHC in Oujda (East). They also cover various disciplines such as oncology and ophthalmology and virology. As for hospital emergency services, forty hospitals will be upgraded and 11 medical emergency services (SAMU) will be built, two of which have already been launched in Rabat and Casablanca. Concerning management, the government set up the Support Programme to the Health Sector management (PAGSS) that is carried out with the support of the European union and targets the Eastern region of the kingdom that boasts five hospitals and 19 health centers.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/social/morocco_to_allocate6847/view
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AMPA holds gathering of Moroccan executives in California
6/28/2005 San Jose, CA 

The Association of Moroccan Professionals in America (AMPA) organized a gathering of Executives last Saturday in Silicon Valley to talk about Entrepreneurship and the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement. "The goal of this event was to gather successful Moroccan professionals from different states of the USA, and get them acquainted with entrepreneurship opportunities arising from the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement. The overall success of this event was a clear testimony that Moroccan professionals in the US are ready to do their share in boosting commercial exchanges between the two countries and promote foreign direct investments towards Morocco," said AMPA's President, Khalil Jai Hokimi on Saturday in a communiqué to Morocco Times.

To provide its members with the necessary information they need to develop their business ideas, AMPA invited FTA experts Adil Embarch (Economic Officer at the Moroccan Embassy in Washington) and Ted Smith (Managing Director of the Moroccan American Trade & Investment Council) as well as a large selection of venture capitalists, corporate lawyers and local Moroccan CEOs. The presentations and the panel discussion were highly interactive, which helped educate AMPA members on what it takes to be an entrepreneur as well as the concrete advantages of the FTA. "I very much believe in the role AMPA is playing in reinforcing the excellent relationship between the United States and Morocco," said Adil Embarch from the Moroccan Embassy. "I have worked in so many countries around the world and I have never seen opportunities like the ones I see in Morocco. We need positive visual images of Morocco that tell stories about attractiveness and trust. That's what Americans want to see! Morocco needs to build a strong brand in the US, I want to work with AMPA and its members to achieve that," added Ted Smith, MATIC's Managing Director. Building on its prior successful events in New York City and Atlanta, the AMPA is currently planning additional events in Washington (DC) and New York City before the end of the year. For future information about the AMPA's events, visit its official website: www.amp-usa.org 
http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=2&id=7676
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Moroccans Represent High Percentage of Female Arab Internet Users.
01/07/2005 

Only four per cent of Arab women use the internet, of which 30 per cent are Moroccan, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The rate remains low compared to women in the rest of the world, said Fatima Sbaity Kassem, director of the ESCWA Centre for Women at a regional workshop currently underway in Beirut. Women represent nearly 42 per cent of internet users in the world, including 51 per cent in Canada and 37 per cent in Italy and Germany, Kassem said. UAE and Lebanese women topped the list of internet users in the Arab world.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
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USDA Grants Morocco Laboratory Equipment for Agricultural Research.
29/06/2005

On Tuesday (28 June), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted laboratory equipment to three plant pathology laboratories in Rabat, Kenitra and Fez that work with the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture. The equipment is provided under the Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Programme for Morocco, which is funded by the US Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative programme. The initiative is aimed at supporting scientific research for improving food levels and agricultural productivity in developing countries.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
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Beach Book Campaign to be Launched in Morocco.
29/06/2005 

A new national campaign called "Books on the Beach" will be launched on 15 July in Morocco to promote books and reading among young people and stressing to parents the importance of books in children's education. The government programme will consists of deploying a network of libraries along Moroccan beaches to help young people and children enjoy reading during the summer vacation. More than 20 beaches will participate in the programme, which will end on 31 August. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
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Mobile Units to Reinforce Moroccan Road Safety.
29/06/2005 

Morocco has set up mobile units to reinforce road safety. In 2004, the nation suffered many human losses and material losses of $1.22 billion, 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product due to preventable traffic accidents. Monitored areas will include roads known for traffic jams and places with the highest number of accidents reported. The ten teams of 25 officers, who are authorized to ticket drivers, started on Tuesday (28 June). Casablanca will have three units, two will be in Rabat, and Marrakech, Tangier, Tetuan, Fez, and Agadir will have one each. (MAP) http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/ 
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Moroccan Breast Implant Market Growing.
29/06/2005 

Heritage Worldwide, one of the largest providers of breast implants in the world, announced on Tuesday (28 June) that its subsidiary Poly Implant Prostheses received approval from the Moroccan Ministry of Health to market its pre-filled silicone-gel breast implants in the country. "We estimate the annual Moroccan breast implant market to be approximately 5,500 units, with double-digit increases," said Heritage Chairman Jean-Claude Mas. The company is already well established in North Africa, mainly in the Tunisian market.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/
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Long Hot Summer.
Volume 69 29.06.2005 

Just days before the entering into force of Morocco's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US, figures on the country's wheat harvest are not looking good. While these disappointing results may have been widely anticipated - and may be good news for American growers, with Moroccan demand expected to spike - they still come as a blow to many Maghrebi farmers, who are suffering the effects of a lengthy drought. Last year, Moroccan wheat sales topped 5.5m tonnes, yet this year, the Ministry of Agriculture predicts, they are unlikely to go above 2.5m tonnes.

Durum production is down 62% on last year, while other wheat output is expected to drop at least 50%. The reason for this is the fact that the country's wheat fields have seen virtually no rain since the first week of March. This has impacted the crop at its most vulnerable growing stage, leaving many farmers deciding to turn their wheat fields over to grazing. Yet arable farmers too have been suffering, as the Agriculture Ministry acknowledged with its announcement on June 23 that it would spend Dr70m ($7.71m) on transporting some 2m quintals of barley this year to help sheep farmers cope with the drought. Rural Development Secretary of State Mohamed Mohattane said the first phase of this shipment had taken place back in January, providing animal feed to 31 provinces. In addition, barley customs duties had been eliminated from May to December 2005 to try and help out growers. Some Dr20m ($2.2m) had also been earmarked to equip watering points along grazing courses, while another Dr20m ($2.2m) had gone into buying plant seeds to grow fodder. Yet, however important these steps are in ameliorating conditions on Morocco's farms, the impact of the drought is already evident in growth expectations for the economy as a whole this year. With more than 40% of the population living in rural areas the agricultural sector has an enormous impact on the country's economic life and on its GDP. Partly as a result of the drought, the government has now revised its 2005 GDP growth expectation down from 3.5% to 1.3%. The drought is not just in Morocco, with both Spain and Portugal also badly affected. All three countries have long had water supply problems, particularly in southern Spain and Portugal, where badly planned tourism development in the 1960s and 1970s has resulted in growing desertification.

The same problem has also crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in recent years, as tourism developments soak up scarce water resources. Forest fires put down by the Water and Forest Department to the effects of drought - some 1200 ha of woodland burned between May and June - have not helped. The timing has not been good for a slump in agriculture either, as high oil prices this year and last have also impacted the economy negatively, as has the ending of the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA). So, the start of the FTA this Friday does not come at an exactly auspicious time. Under the agreement, US wheat has the same privileged status as that from the European Union, greatly boosting American growers' chances. From now on, importers can bid on discounts to the prevailing import duties for quantities of milling wheat between 280,000 and 700,000 tonnes, depending on the local harvest. They can also bid on such discounts for 250,000 tonnes of durum, with these figures increasing over the next 10 years. With this year's low production, the tariff rate quota (TRQ) for non-durum US wheat will likely be set to the maximum of 700,000 tonnes, according to US Wheat Associates, who in consequence predicted in their June 23 newsletter an excellent year for US wheat exports to Morocco. However, the EU will also be looking to boost its sales to Morocco in the months ahead, along with other drought-stricken North African markets. This will be particularly so this year, as the EU has an enormous surplus in wheat currently being warehoused. 

The 2005/6 marketing year sees the Union with the highest stocks in its history, some 26m tonnes. This season is also expected to see a very healthy harvest, slightly down on last year due to the effects of drought in Spain and Portugal, but still one of the highest on record. Given that much of the discussion over the FTA and Morocco's Association Agreement with the EU turned on the potential advantages of having trade agreements with both foreign giants, how this competition will work out in the months ahead may be instructive in many ways. Meanwhile, however, the government in Rabat clearly has much work to do in countering the immediate effects of the drought. The authorities' expectation, according to Afrol News, is also of a demographic kind, as failures in agriculture lead to more of the rural population heading for the cities. Where this places the long-term future of the country's agriculture sector is therefore a question with a worrying multiplicity of aspects.
http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/weekly01.asp?id=1436
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Heritage Worldwide Obtains Approval to Market Pre-Filled Silicone-Gel Breast Implants in Morocco Third Country to Approve Heritage Worldwide Products This Month.
LA-SEYNE-SUR-MER, France, June 28, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ 

Heritage Worldwide Inc (OTC Bulletin Board: HWWI), a top-three provider of breast implants internationally, today announced that its subsidiary, Poly Implant Protheses, SA, has been awarded approval by the Kingdom of Morocco's Ministry of Health to market its pre-filled silicone-gel breast implants in the Kingdom of Morocco, whose population is more than 30 million. "For the last year, we have worked very closely with our Moroccan distributor, Ikorpharm, the largest distributor of aesthetics, plastic and reconstructive products in Morocco. We are already well established in North Africa and the Middle East with a distribution network in Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Morocco is yet another excellent market for our products; they are popular with surgeons and patients in the region, and marketing our products in Morocco is a natural progression for us," commented Heritage Chairman Jean-Claude Mas. "We estimate the annual Moroccan breast implant market to approximate 5,500 units, with double-digit increases. We are confident that between the quality of our products, their leading aesthetics appearance and our alliance with this strong distributor will allow us to obtain at least 30 percent of this market within the next twelve months."
"Our international expansion continues at a torrid pace. This is the third country in which we gained market approval within one month, after Brazil and Argentina respectively. We are committed to increasing our worldwide market share and we will do so country by country, surgeon by surgeon," said CEO Alain Serreyjol-Garros.

About Heritage Worldwide Inc
The Company and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture, and market breast and other body implants and body support products worldwide. The Company maintains its production facility and headquarters in the Toulon metropolitan area in Southern France, and has a distribution facility in Spain. The Company is incorporated in Delaware.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "anticipate," "expects," "intend," "plan," "predicts," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and are based upon the information available to us at this time. These statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Heritage Worldwide include, but are not limited to, competitive pressures and other factors such as the introduction or regulatory approval of new products by our competitors and pricing of competing products and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products, disruptions or other problems with our sources of supply, significant product liability or other claims, difficulties with new product development and market acceptance, patent conflicts, product recalls, United States Food and Drug Administration delay in approval or rejection of new and existing products, changes in governmental regulations, use of hazardous or environmentally sensitive materials, our inability to implement new information technology systems, and other events.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. By making these forward-looking statements, we undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.
Contact: Joe Allen (investors) Claude Couty, CFO Allen & Caron Inc Heritage Worldwide Inc 212 691 8087 011-33-49-410-7808
joe@allencaron.com  ccouty@pipfrance.fr SOURCE Heritage Worldwide Inc
CONTACT: Investors, Joe Allen of Allen & Caron Inc, +1-212-691-8087, joe@allencaron.com , for Heritage Worldwide Inc; or Claude Couty, CFO of Heritage Worldwide Inc, 011-33-49-410-7808, ccouty@pipfrance.fr 
URL: http://www.prnewswire.com  www.prnewswire.com  Copyright (C) 2005 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?storyid=179p3183&section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C
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Renewable Energies and Waste Treatment Seminar to be Held in Rabat.
30/06/2005

The Moroccan-German Agency for Renewable Energy is holding a seminar called "Renewable Energies, Waste Treatment: Basic Vectors for Sustainable Development" 4-5 July in Rabat. The forum, initiated in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, will gather Moroccan and German experts and foreign investors to discuss issues related to renewable energies as a factor in human development and systems for environmental waste processing.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/
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Gnawa festival attracted over 450,000 fans.
Essaouira, June 27 

The Gnawa and World Music Festival, that wrapped up Sunday with a concert of Senegal's Youssou N'dour, attracted over 450,000 visitors. This 8th edition, held from June 23 through 26, was covered by some 200 foreign journalists. The UNICEF ambassador staged world music in an afro-pop style where jazz, soul and Cuban rhythms were brought together in a unique moment where world cultures conciliated in the Wind City.

The Senegalese star performed his hit repertoire that charmed thousands of music lovers who flooded Bab Marrakech Square to attend the strong moment of the festival. The closing ceremony paid tribute to Gnawa culture, reflecting the international recognition of this kind of music.

Gnawa is a mystical form of music that draws its roots from the Gnawas, descendants of black slaves. It has now become an integral part of the life of the wind city inhabitants and has gained international recognition. This musical style appeared in Morocco some three centuries ago in Essaouira, which was a port for trade between Africa and Europe. During this period, black African slaves, from whom the Gnawa are descended, were exchanged for goods imported from Europe along with ostrich feathers, gold and salt.
Gnawa is considered a ritual of deliverance for the body and the mind, a therapeutic affair with elements of black African culture and Islam.

Essaouira enjoyed a four-day-in day-out party that paid tribute to Gnawa music history and its role in bridging the gap between cultures and civilisations. The festival menu was rich and diversified. Nine scenes featured twenty Moroccan Gnawa Maalems (Masters) along with international music figures, notably Egyptian Fathy Salama, Singapore's Nantha Kumar, Senegalese-Swedish duo Elika and Solo, Guadeloupe's Etienne Mbappé, France's Magic Malik and Armenia's Arto Tunçboyaciyan.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/culture/gnawa_festival_attra/view
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Creation of consulting center on human rights.
Casablanca, June 29

A legal assistance and advising center on human rights was created, here Wednesday, in the school of law of Hassan II university in Mohammedia (about 30 km north of Casablanca). Created by virtue of a cooperation convention between the American Bar Association (ABA) and the school of law, the center is due to provide practical training for students in conducting research and elaborating legal texts. The center, which will be housed at the school of law, aims also at offering free legal consulting to the public in a large array of issues relating to human rights. ABA has already established a legal technical assistance program in Morocco on juridical development, women rights, as well as a training program on human rights. The American Bar Association is a non-governmental organization whose programs seek to prepare law students for their careers as lawyers, judges or law professionals, said Richard Paton, ABA regional director. Paton hailed the commitment of Mohammedia law school in the dissemination of human rights.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/imp_general/creation_of_consulti/view
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WB approves $150 Mn loan to support Moroccan housing sector.
Washington, July 01 

The World Bank's Board of Directors approved, Thursday, a US$150 million loan to support Morocco's efforts in the housing sector and significantly expand the access of the urban poor to decent housing. The loan will be disbursed in two shares, respectively US$ 90 million after the entry into force of the loan accord, and US$ 60 million in a deadline ranging from 18 to 24 months after the Bank examines governmental measures taken in conformity with the accord.

The loan seeks to contribute to the improvement of the overall functionality of the housing sector, reducing the current market distortions and enabling private sector companies to participate more fully in the production and commercialization of housing goods.
The new project will assist the Government with the definition and implementation of specific policies and programs targeted to the urban poor, and especially the slum-dwellers, that would continue to benefit from public subsidies, the Bank said in a release.
The reforms supported by the loan aim to strengthen the institutional, regulatory and fiscal environment of the housing sector, through modernizing urban planning standards and regulations; restructuring and refocusing public sector housing agencies and enterprises; and rationalizing and simplifying real estate taxes and subsidies, noted the release.

The project also aims to increase access of low income households to more affordable and higher quality housing, by expanding urban slum upgrading and social housing programs; improving the efficiency of the residential rental market; and expanding access of informal sector and low-income households to housing finance. The proposed operation supports the second strategic objective of the new Morocco Country Assistance Strategy (CAS 2005-2009), approved by the board of directors last May 19. It aims at providing improved access to quality services for the poorest and most marginalized parts of the population. Besides, it directly supports the CAS specific goal, under the second strategic objective, of reducing slums and increasing access to affordable housing for the poorest segments of the population.
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box1/wb_approves_150_mn/view
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Conference on "Sufism in Southern Morocco" to start.

The council of the Souss-Massed-Draa region in conjunction with Timitar Association and the town council of Tiznit, are organizing a conference on "Sufism in southern Morocco", which will be held in Tiznit from July 1 to July 3. The conference will focus on various aspects of Sufism such as "the history of Sufism in southern Morocco, its origins and its characteristics", "the centers of Sufism in southern Morocco and the prominent names of Sufism", "the role of Sufism in southern Morocco in the fields of education, teaching and intellectual construction" etc. Special attention will be devoted to Al Mokhtar Soussi and his vision and demonstrations of Sufism.
<i>E-Marrakech</i> reports that various cultural events will be held within the framework of this conference, including an exhibition portraying the manuscripts and photographs of the leading names of Sufism in Southern Morocco.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Morocco/185531
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Moroccan Poet Abdellatif Laabi Awarded Grand Atlas Prize.
29/06/2005 

Moroccan poet Abdellatif Laabi was recently awarded the 2005 Grand Atlas Prize in Rabat for his children's book "L'orange bleue," a tale written both in French and Arabic. A committed poet, playwright and novelist -- Laabi was born in Fez in 1942 to a family of traditional craftsmen. He is mainly known for spearheading Morocco's postcolonial cultural movements by launching Souffles, one of Morocco's very first cultural magazines, in 1966. He was later jailed during Morocco's "black years" and released in the 1980s. Laabi now lives in France.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/homepage/
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Morocco to stop marketing regular gasoline.
Rabat, June 30 

Regular gasoline will no longer be marketed in Morocco as of July 1, announced a communiqué of the Ministry of energy and mines.
Regular gasoline, whose octane number is barely 87%, will be replaced by environmentally-friendly premium lead-free gasoline, whose octane number is 95%, says the communiqué. It went on to say that "the consumption of regular gasoline has plummeted by 38% between 2001 and 2004, dropping from 80,000 tons to 50,000 tons" because of the growing use of premium gas vehicles. Due to the upsurge in oil prices internationally, the government had to resort, in May 2005 and August 2004, to increasing the prices of oil products to ward off a possible deficit of about MAD 6.3b (USD 723m) in 2005. The recent increase brought the prices to MAD 9.85/litre for gas (USD 1.12), and MAD 6.46/litre for diesel (USD 0.73).
http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box5/morocco_to_stop_mark/view
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Model Credit Bureau "Open Source" Solution Being Tested in Morocco.
Fri Jul 1,(PRWEB) - Casablanca, Morocco (PRWEB) July 1, 2005

PlaNet Finance Maroc (Morocco) and Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) today announced a joint initiative to develop a software package for creating a credit bureau for microfinance borrowers. This innovative program, when implemented, will allow poor borrowers in Morocco to establish a credit history which will help move them into the financial mainstream.
The project, managed by PlaNet Finance Maroc with technical advice from the Grameen Technology Center (a program initiative of GFUSA), leverages open source tools to allow the easy adoption of the credit bureau management application. Seven of Morocco's 11 microfinance institutions (MFIs) have tested the first release over the last months and have reported positive results. Following the testing, the first pilot program will be launched in Morocco to validate the technology, and the business and institutional model. Morocco is the most advanced microfinance sector in the Middle East -North African Region, with 11 MFIs reaching more than 450,000 borrowers. It will then be released to other countries seeking a similar credit tracking solution.

"After having tested the Credit Bureau for Microfinance concept en Benin (West Africa) with theTop of Form 1 Bottom of Form 1 World Bank <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=World+Bank>'s funding, PlaNet Finance is pleased to go one step further in the design and implementation of this efficient credit reporting tool for MFIs, and looks forward to implementing new Credit Bureau for microfinance worldwide," said Arnaud Ventura, Vice President of PlaNet Finance Maroc Board of Directors.
"Microfinance is designed to move people from the bottom of the economic ladder into self sufficiency and that includes the ability to access traditional financial markets," commented James Dailey of GFUSA's Technology Center, based in Seattle, WA. "A credit history is an important step in that progression."

In addition to establishing a credit history for poor borrowers, the initiative will allow Morocco's MFIs to more closely track the loans they extend to borrowers and more effectively manage risk. ALLSER, a Moroccan computer company, was selected by the MFI and their Federation to develop the software. "The quality of their work has been outstanding," says Dailey. Maroc Connect will be responsible for the hosting, maintaining, hot line and security of the process. From an institutional point of view, the Moroccan MFIs will be directly managing the credit bureau and will be the owner of the database. PlaNet Finance Maroc and the Grameen Foundation USA have taken into accounts during all the process the expectations of the main Moroccan MFIs, as direct and main users of the Credit Bureau. The project has adopted a collaborative approach. "We asked the industry what they needed and they have been involved in every aspect of creating this project. It has been a grassroots exercise," remarked Sébastien Duquet, Director of PlaNet Finance Maroc. 

The project is supported by a grant from the Mosaic Fund for Arab World, and is part of the Grameen-Abdul Latif Jameel Initiative, a GFUSA project to support microfinance in the Arab World.

About PlaNet Finance Maroc www.planetfinance.org http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb257536/15653966/SIG=10uo6orv2/ http://www.planetfinance.org  PlaNet Finance is an International Solidarity Organisation, which aims to alleviate poverty by contributing to the development of the microfinance sector. PlaNet Finance supports microfinance institutions and increases their rate of growth through the provision of services to enable them to strengthen their technical capacities and financial resources.
PlaNet Finance is present in over 60 countries and has permanent programs and offices in 15 countries (Mexico, Brazil, Morocco, Benin, Senegal, China, India, Italy, USA, United Arab Emirates, Portugal, UK, Spain, Belgium, France). PlaNet Finance Maroc is an affiliated NGO of this international network, and is dedicated to the implementation of the development of microfinance in Morocco.
About Grameen Foundation USA ( www.gfusa.org http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/prweb/bs_prweb/storytext/prweb257536/15653966/SIG=10mi3u5jj/ http://www.gfusa.org  Grameen Foundation USA is a young, dynamic, global organization that combines microfinance, new technologies, and innovative thinking to empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. In just seven years, GFUSA has established a global network of 50 partners in 20 countries and has impacted an estimated 5.5 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. Grameen Foundation USA was conceived in 1997 by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, and a current board member of GFUSA.
Contact: PlaNet Finance Sébastien Duquet, Phone: + 212 - (0) 22 48 08 64.
Contact: Grameen Foundation James Dailey Phone: 206-325-6690 x202
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Grameen Foundation USA
James Dailey 206-325-6690
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