FOM Newsletter April 2002
FOM Newsletter April 2002
Morocco Week in Review April 27, 2002 

Milk consumption in Morocco stands nearly at 50 litters per person annually, which is 0.13 litters a day, according to the statistics of the Moroccan Center of (Proper) Production (CMPP). A study conducted in Mars 2000 by the CMPP shows that if the production of pasteurized and (UHT) milk and yogurts covers nearly 80% of the national demand, cheese and butter production is still very "insufficient," especially that Morocco imports more than two thirds of its butter needs. Large milk companies in Morocco can collect huge quantities of milk during the high lactation period, process it, dry it, and reconstitute it during the low lactation period. Contrarily, small companies operate fully only in high lactation periods, which decreases their annual production.

WASHINGTON, Apr.23 - H.M. King Mohammed VI who met Monday at his residence in Washington the United States' representative for international trade negotiations, Robert Zoellick, confirmed the interest Morocco grants to the projected conclusion of a free trade accord with the United States.  The sovereign insisted that such an accord must be part of a comprehensive perspective, taking into account financial cooperation, backing to private investment and Morocco's ability to become a regional development hub for US operators.

WASHINGTON, Apr.25 - King Mohammed VI renewed on Wednesday Morocco's resolve to promote democracy, and underlined the solidity of ties having bound Morocco and the United States for over two centuries as well as the two countries' commitment to the values of freedom and democracy.  H.M. King Mohammed, who was delivering an address at a meeting he held Wednesday at the Capitol with Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert and other House members, said Morocco, a constitutional monarchy, is determined to deepen further the culture of democracy.  "We must take up so many challenges," the sovereign said, mentioning part of these challenges "the promotion of human rights, a better distribution of wealth, the perfecting of women's integration in our society, the consolidation of democracy and the enlargement of regions' powers."  H.M. King Mohammed VI also renewed determination to see to it that the coming legislative elections in Morocco --slated for next September- be genuinely representative of the people's voice. Surveying Morocco's assets, the sovereign spoke of its human and natural resources, its viable institutional frame, its modern infrastructure and technology and its open and tolerant society. He also underlined the efforts made to drain more investments and that actually proved fruitful as the volume of foreign investments recorded a noteworthy increase. Touching on the agreement reached by Morocco and the US to set up a free trade area, King Mohammed VI expressed Morocco's satisfaction to have been chosen by the US as signatory to a free trade accord and renewed the kingdom's desire to conclude such an accord. H.M. King Mohammed VI said "This choice confers a political and economic credibility to the reforms initiated by Morocco (and evidences) the importance the United States grants to our country and to our region."

A human skeleton aged more then 15,000 years was unearthed in the region of Nador (Rif, northern Morocco), the Moroccan ministry of culture and communication announced. The archeological excavations started in March 7 in the site of Ifri N'ammar (Asfou commune, Nador province) by a Moroccan-German team of archeologists. The archaeologists found other items that will help them know more about the prehistoric people's living conditions in north Africa. Four children's skeletons were discovered in the same spot last year, belonging to a civilization present in the region between the 22nd and 10th millennium BC.

Apr 22, 2002 (Al-Bawaba via COMTEX) -- The Moroccan government predicts tourism revenues to reach two billion dollars over the course of 2002 compared with $2.7 billion in 2001, a $700 million drop, reported Al-Hayat. Morocco's tourism sector will no longer be the top foreign currency revenue generator in the country. Operating hotels in Marrakech reported that tourists spent 285,000 nights last March in the city compared with 340,000 nights in March 2001, a 15 percent withdrawal. Morocco's tourism industry recorded a 43 percent revenue drop in January 2002. Receipts for the month totaled 1.19 billion Moroccan dirhams ($102 million), down from Dh2.1 billion in the corresponding period the previous year, the government's Office des Changes disclosed. The Moroccan tourism industry currently employs over half a million people, serving some 2.4 million tourists arriving in the country annually. - (menareport.com)

RABAT, April 25 (Reuters) - Morocco launched a campaign on Thursday aimed at selecting local and foreign partners for a development plan of five seaside tourist resorts, requiring an investment of at least 44 billion dirhams ($3.85 billion). The plan, dubbed Plan Azur, aims at building between 40,000 and 50,000 hotel rooms as part of the country's efforts to attract 10 million tourists by 2010 from some 2.5 million in 2001. Prime Minister Abderrahmane El Youssoufi told some 35 representatives of local and foreign groups, the five areas are:

- Mogador near the Atlantic city of Essaouira - The Plage Blanche in the southern Atlantic city of Guelmim.

"We seek private planning-development operators who will undertake on-site planning, while the state will provide the infrastructure for the areas out of the sites in order to sell them to planning-development operators at preferential prices," he added. He said feasibility studies of the projects have been finalised and the launch of tenders for the projects is "imminent". A senior tourism ministry official said the government is expected to shortlist the first bidders for the projects in July. "The ideal bidder should be a consortium grouping foreign investors and a local investor. But this is not prerequisite," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. He said the planning of each of the five areas can cost around 1.0 billion dirhams. Morocco's tourism industry employs some 640,000 people and netted the country over $2.3 billion in recipts in 2001.  But the key industry started feeling this year the first significant impact from the economic downturn created by the September 11 attacks against the United States when receipts for the first two months of 2002 stood at 2.5 billion dirhams, down 34 percent from the same period of 2001. ((Souhail Karam, Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)) ($1=11.439 Moroccan dirhams)

Morocco on Thursday launched a media campaign to publicize to Moroccan and foreign enterprises a project to build six new seaside resorts along its Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts. The campaign is meant to attract Moroccan and foreign investors and make them contribute to the promotion of the resorts located in Taghazout (in the region ofAgadir), Saidia (on the Mediterranean shore), Khmis sahel and Haouzia (in the Province of El Jadida, south of Casablanca), Mogador (Province of Essaouira, 450 KM south of Rabat) and Plage Blanche (in the southern Province of Goulmim). The project is assessed to cost $5.2 billion. The state will contribute 50 percent and the private sector 50 percent. According to previous statements by a senior tourism official, major international leisure groups and hotel chains have shown interest in the project.  Speaking during the campaign launch, Moroccan Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, said the project feasibility studies were finalized and related tenders will be launched "imminently." He said Morocco boasts so many assets to be a major tourism country. Among these assets he mentioned the country's geographic location, its cultural and history heritage, its political stability and its attachment to the values of tolerance. He also mentioned the advantages provided by the Moroccan investment charter to would-be investors. In early 2001, the Moroccan government and the private sector signed an accord providing, inter alia, for the construction of 80,000 hotel rooms and for investing between 80 and 90 billion Dirhams (between $7 and $8 billion) in the sector. Part of the efforts made to reach and ambitious goal of 10 million visitors by 2010, Morocco is projecting to increase its hotel capacity to 115,000 chambers by that date. Tourism is vital to the economy of Morocco, a country of 30 million enjoying a rich, ancient culture, exquisite handicraft, thousands of miles of coastline, deserts and snow-capped mountains. The industry employs about 628,000 people and is second only to expatriate remittances as an earner of international currency.The sector earned the country 21.64 billion DH in 2000 (nearly $1.90 billion) from about 2.5 million visitors, up 10.3 percent from 1999.

RABAT, April 23 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has accepted an invitation by Morocco's King Mohammed VI and will pay an official visit here "as soon as he is able to", the local MAP news agency announced. The Moroccan king was in Washington Tuesday for talks with Bush during a working visit to the United States. "President Bush has accepted the invitation to pay an official visit to Morocco as soon as his calendar permits," MAP reported. "Morocco is very much in my and my family's hearts and I am very happy at the prospect of going there when I am able," Bush was quoted as saying. Bush told King Mohammed, during talks at the White House, that his government would "work to enact a free trade agreement with Morocco". For his part the Moroccan king told reporters after the meeting that he hoped to speedily boost bilateral relations.  While the Moroccan monarch has traditionally been seen as a staunch US ally in promoting Washington's regional policies, he has chosen to adopt stronger language in support of the Palestinians in recent meetings with US officials. Most notably, the king has repeated his "total support" for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- still surrounded by the Israeli army in his West Bank headquarters -- on a number of occasions.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=640930966&Section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C

RABAT, Apr.25 - A Moroccan Immigrants Body on Thursday signed a partnership convention with the International Organization for Migrations (IOM) that will lead to the creation of an observatory of Moroccan expatriates. The convention was by delegate chairman of the Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans settled abroad, Omar Azziman, who is also justice minister, and IOM director general, Brunson Mc kinley. The observatory will strengthen the foundation's institutional and technical capacities through a system of information and research which will analyze information on Moroccan expatriates, contribute to the elaboration of new management strategies, along with governmental organisms and the private sector, Azzimane said. By virtue of the three-year convention, the IOM will provide equipment and expertise necessary for the observatory, and ensure the development of the foundation's human resources.

WASHINGTON, Apr.24 - H.M. King Mohammed VI invited President George W. Bush to pay an official visit to Morocco. President Bush accepted the invitation and said he would visit Morocco as his schedule allows him to do so. Bush said that Morocco is present in his heart and in his family's heart and that he was looking forward to visiting the kingdom as soon as he can.

The Moroccan ministry of human rights and the International Organization for Migrations (IOM) signed Wednesday in Rabat a memorandum of intent to set up a resource center for migrants rights, which will be the first institution in the world to specialize in the rights of migrants. The center is created part of the international cooperation agreement with the High Commissariat for Refugees, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The creation of the center comes at the right time, Moroccan minister of human rights, Mohammed Aujjar, said. He deplored that while free movement of capital and goods is encouraged, the movement of people is still hampered. Morocco, with nearly three million expatriates (abroad), mainly legal migrants, is deeply concerned over this multiple-faceted issue, he said. Our country's geographic location made it a bridge, a melting pot for cultures, a neighbor, but also a partner of the European (Union), and one of the most sensitive issues "in our relations with Europe is immigration," Aujjar said. IOM director general, Brunson Mc Kinley, lauded Morocco's willingness to cooperate with the organization, the creation of the resource center for migrants rights which, he said, is very important for "Morocco, for the IOM, but also for the world." Kinley said his organization wants to work in partnership with the western Mediterranean countries (5"5), and announced the coming ministerial conference to be held in Tunis to start a "reasonable" dialogue between the Maghreb Union and the European Union, on what they can do together.The two parties discussed the international convention for the protection of migrants and their family members, signed by Morocco to be enacted in the next few months.

An international forum on water and energy opened in Marrakesh with experts from the Maghreb, Senegal, Germany, Spain, France and Oman, attending. The three-day meeting, co-sponsored by the European Commission and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), is focusing on "developing water-energy concepts in the Mediterranean," "the role of renewable energies in the concept water-energy: best practices for developing countries' rural areas," "financial and organizational aspects of water-energy resources management by rural populations" and "developing countries: what policy to follow? Case of the Mediterranean." UNESCO's Osman Bencheikh voiced hope that the meeting adopts the recommendations the organization may make, along with other United Nations organizations at the conference on sustainable development to be held in South Africa.

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