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Morocco
Stages Nationwide Anti-Hepatitis C Campaign.
Morocco's tourism
receipts down 31 pct in Jan-Apr
Software Piracy
Rate in Morocco Reached 61% in 2001.
H.M.
King Mohammed VI launches Several Social Projects In Meknes
IT
Sector in Morocco Posts US 1.8 Billion Turnover, Minister.
Moroccan
Human Rights Organization Presents 2001 Report .
Moroccan
Psychiatrist Wins Sigmund Freud International Prize
Morocco's
Trade Deficit Drops by 23.5% in January-April Period.
Morocco Stages Nationwide Anti-Hepatitis C Campaign.
RABAT, CASABLANCA, June 21- Morocco has launched a nationwide campaign against Hepatitis C,
consisting of free diagnosis, prevention actions and improvement of access to medicine. The health ministry and pharmaceutical company "Roche" have signed to this end a partnership agreement under which the company would supply machines that analyze up to 1,500 blood samples per hour. Some one million persons are scheduled to be tested by 2003 for the Hepatitis C virus. The strategy also includes generalization of the use of single-use medical devices and free of charge treatment.http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep06.htm
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Morocco's tourism receipts down 31 pct in Jan-Apr
RABAT, June 18 (Reuters) - Morocco's tourism receipts, the country's second main hard currency earner, fell 30.9 percent in the first four months compared with one year earlier, due to the industry's global downturn in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States. State foreign trade regulatory Office des Changes said in a report the receipts stood at 5.66 billion dirhams ($515.1 million) up 5.4 percent rise compared to the average of the last five years. It gave no comparative figure for last year. A senior official at the finance ministry's General Economic Policy Directorate (DPEG) said the figure shows a 30.9 percent drop from last year noting that foreign visitors fell 14.7 percent at the end of April against a 7.6 percent rise at the end of April 2001. "European vistors fell 13.2 pct and U.S. tourists arrivals were down 44.7 percent," he told Reuters. The finance ministry expects a 15-20 percent fall in the 2002 receipts of the sector that employs over 600,000 people. Morocco, which welcomed in 2001 some 2.4 million foreign visitors, has set itself before the September 11 attacks the ambitious goal of quadrupling the figure by 2010 by investing over $5.0 billion in half a dozen seaside resorts. Tourism ministry officials have repeatedly said they have not altered their target since the attacks. "The implementation of the new touristic action plan, launched in October 2001, as well as the restructuring and relaunch plan of airline RAM should help reduce the impact of the September attacks," the DPEG official said. ($1=10.989 Moroccan dirhams)
(Souhail Karam, Rabat newsroom, +212-37 720065 fax +212-37 722499, rabat.newsroom@reuters.com)) http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm?id=1024401608nL1893262&Section=Countries&page=Morocco&channel=All%20Morocco%20News&objectid=22403786-8F1A-11D4-867000D0B74A0D7C
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Software Piracy Rate in Morocco Reached 61% in 2001.
CASABLANCA, June 19 - Software piracy rate in Morocco reached 61% in 2001, north Africa spokesman of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) Samir Bennani said. Bennani, who was presenting at a news conference here Tuesday findings of a survey on piracy in Morocco and in the world, said the study shows that the rate in Morocco remained stable between 2000 and 2001 (60% and 61% respectively), but decreased dramatically in comparison with 1995, when the rate neared 82%. Moroccan software businesses lost some US$ 5.5 million in 2001 and US$ 6 million in 2000, he said. At the international level, piracy rate went up from 37% in 2000 to 40% in 2001, the spokesman added. Surveying Business Software Alliance's action in Morocco since June 2001, Bennani said the BSA has monitored 6 private companies through a court clerk and a computer expert and discovered that three out of the six companies were using pirated software. One of these companies accepted an amicable agreement while the two others will have to decide within two weeks from now either to sign an amicable agreement or to be referred to court, he said.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep17.htm
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H.M. King Mohammed VI launches Several Social Projects In Meknes
MEKNES, June 17- H.M. King Mohammed VI, who was accompanied by his brother Prince Moulay Rachid and his cousin Prince Moulay Ismail, launched this Monday several social projects in Meknes, 170 km north east of Rabat.The sovereign thus visited roaming vocational training units, that dispense training courses on computer science and administrative secretariat, car mechanics, agriculture and garments cutting out and sewing. The sovereign was briefed on a youth training
program that will be launched next September and that will benefit some 1000 young persons, mainly school dropouts and people facing integration problems. The program, to cost 8 million DH (nearly US$ 727,272), will be co-financed by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation and the office for vocational training and labor promotion (OFPPT) that will respectively inject 5.5 million DH and 2.5 million DH in the project. The program provides for vocational training in the sectors of computer science, car mechanics, garment cutting out and sewing, electricity, plumbing, sheet-iron trade, cooking, gardening, glaziery, painting H.M. King Mohammed VI then laid the foundation stone for the construction of a vocational training center that will train some 150 young persons per year. The center, to extend over 700 m2, will include three workshops, classrooms and administrative facilities, and will dispense training courses on computer science, car mechanics, and garment cutting out and sewing. Construction works are assessed to cost 4 million DH (about US$363,636) and are to last 10 months. The project will be financed by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation and the OFPPT. H.M. King Mohammed VI then laid the foundation stone for the construction of a social educational center for sight-impaired persons. construction, to cost 6 million Dirhams (about US$ 545,454), will be financed by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation in partnership with the Alaouite Organization for the protection of sight-impaired persons, that will contribute 1.0 million DH to the project. The center, to be built over 3000 m2, will have an accommodation capacity of 120 boarder girls and boys. It will include classrooms, a computer workshop, a video-library, dorms, sporting and other facilities in addition to 10 shops. The construction works to start next August will be completed by September 2003. H.M. King Mohammed VI afterwards visited the social complex of the Muslim Welfare Association and got informed on the refurbishment of the Sidi Said orphanage. The refurbishment works, to cost 1.32 million DH ($120,090) are financed by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation. The foundation will also finance the restoration of the building's roof water tightness to cost 680,000 DH.The social complex, having a 400 boarders accommodation capacity, is currently accommodating 353 poor pupils and students. The sovereign then handed the association a batch of equipment, donated by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation. The batch, worth 1.21 million DH (about $
110,082), includes medical equipment, computers, stationary, library equipment, books, blankets, mattresses, cooking utensils in addition to clothes.© MAP 200
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep01.htm
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IT Sector in Morocco Posts US 1.8 Billion Turnover, Minister.
RABAT, June 19 - The sector of new information technologies in Morocco posts a turnover currently nearing 20 billion Dirhams (about US$ 1.8 billion), out of which 15 billion DH (nearly US$ 1.3 billion) in the field of telecommunications alone, secretary of state in charge of post and information and communication technologies, Nasr Hajji, said. Hajji who was guest to a TV program, aired Monday evening by the Moroccan first channel, said the sector is bound to develop further, mainly thanks to internet, and recalled the setting up of a global service fund to be co-funded by telecom companies. These companies will contribute 4 percent of their returns, i.e. 600 million Dh per year (about $ 54 Mln) to the fund, which will finance the connection to internet of all the regions of the country, including rural areas, he said.The secretary of state stressed the necessity of promoting the Moroccan posts authority Barid Al Maghrib and presented the government program to foster the institution's competitiveness.Telecommunications will be liberalized by the end of the current year, which will enable customers to choose at least between two operators, he said, explaining that all other telecommunication sectors will know a boom similar to that of mobile phones, which boasts some 6 million customers in Morocco.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep03.htm
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Moroccan Human Rights Organization Presents 2001 Report .
RABAT, June 20 - The Moroccan Human Rights Organization (OMDH) presented here on Wednesday
its 2001 report that deals with progress scored in matters of human rights in Morocco, issues related to democratic reforms, and the human rights violations that are still committed. In the first chapter dealing with progress scored in matters of human rights, The OMDH report hails provisions and principles contained in the Dahirs (royal decrees) on the Human Rights Advisory Council and Diwane Al Madhalim (ombudsman). The report renews calls for "a fair, comprehensive and definitive settlement of all human rights violations committed in the past" and deems positive the setting up of a national commission to moralize public life and the related awareness-promotion
campaigns. The second chapter dealing with violations of civil and political human rights, mentions cases of death in custody and notes the deterioration of living conditions in prisons that are overcrowded and the poor medicare services extended to inmates. The report also notes cases of violations of the right to set up associations and cases of child ill treatment and exploitation. In the third chapter, the OMDH calls for the release of persons still detained for political reasons, the enforcement of the general amnesty for former opponents and the reform of the Constitution to consecrate the separation of powers. © MAP 2001http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep19.htm
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Moroccan Psychiatrist Wins Sigmund Freud International Prize
RABAT, June 21- Moroccan psychiatrist-psychoanalyst Jalil Bennani was awarded the prestigious Sigmund Freud psychotherapy international prize of the city of Vienna, a statement by the World Psychotherapy Council said. The council awarded the Moroccan psychoanalyst the Sigmund Freud psychotherapy international prize, considered as the psychotherapy Nobel Prize, "in recognition for all his works and publications and for his exceptional psychiatry work in Morocco," the statement said, adding this is the first time that such a high distinction goes to a North African psychoanalyst. The prize awarding ceremony will be held in July 2002 in Vienna. Dr Bennani is founder member and chairman of the Moroccan psychotherapy association and holder of the 1997 prize of inter-Maghreban medicine societies.
http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep16.htm
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Morocco's Trade Deficit Drops by 23.5% in January-April Period.
RABAT, June 21- Morocco's trade deficit during the January-April period this year stood at 10.52 Billion Dirhams (nearly US$ 956.36 million), dropping by 23.5 percent compared to the same period in 2001 when it was worth 13.75 billion DH ($1.250 billion). The exchange Office which disclosed the figures in its latest newsletter ascribed the deficit alleviation to a slight increase of exports (11.2 percent) at a time imports have maintained the same level. Exports went up from 26.16 billion DH (about $2.37 billion) during the January-April period in 2001 to 29.09
billion DH ($2.64 billion) in 2002, while imports stagnated at nearly 39.9 billion DH ($3.62 billion). Covering rate of imports by exports was of 73.4 percent compared to 65.5 percent the previous year. © MAP 2002http://www.map.co.ma/mapeng/home_dep/h_dep15.htm
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