FOM Newsletter May 2002
Morocco Week in Review May 25, 2002 

Rabat, May 21 - The meeting held last April between US president George W. Bush and H.M. King Mohammed VI was more than a total success at various levels, said US ambassador to Morocco, Margaret Tutwiler. The US ambassador told "L'Opinion" daily that while the sovereign renewed commitment regarding efforts conducted by the coalition in its struggle against terrorism worldwide, President Bush announced the US administration's plans to set up a free-trade accord with Morocco. She went on that the free-trade accord was welcomed by the Moroccan government, business circles and trade unions and that the US chief executive wishes the agreement will be sealed in a reasonable time. The ambassador explained that the free-trade accord with the USA is far more demanding and more complex than the one biding Morocco to the European Union. Of the American stance on the Moroccan Sahara issue, she renewed her country's "support to a peaceful solution that will resolve the problem to the satisfaction of all parties". She explained that this is the same stance that the US has been advocating for the last 26 years and said her country "really wishes to see the two sides involved in this situation reach means to settle it through a peaceful way.

President of "Big Heart" association, Professor Mohammed Arharbi, said cardiovascular diseases are in a constant rise in Morocco, given that most of the patients cannot afford the usually expensive medicine. Arharbi was speaking at a press conference held to present the association, newly set up to improve the treatment and social services offered to poorest patients who need costly medicine or surgery. Some 3,500 newborns in Morocco have a heart malformation and 1,000 among them need surgery, he added. The "Big Heart" Association, set up at the initiative of a group of cardiologists and NGOs, aims to back poor people suffering from heart diseases and facilitate their social, educational and professional integration. It will also foster public awareness as to heart diseases by organizing seminars and information campaigns.

A Moroccan delegation from the region of Souss-Massa-Draa (southwestern Morocco) is taking part in the World Eco-tourism Summit held in Quebec this May 19-22. The encounter will be the occasion for world organizations, public organisms, eco-tourism enterprises and specialists, NGOs and researchers to have a better knowledge of tourism implications and to better techniques of planning, management and marketing, while catering for sustainable development requirements. The summit is held to mark the United Nation year of ecotourism.

Moroccan health minister, Thami El Khyari, and visiting Chinese peer, Zhang Wenkang probed in Rabat Monday means to foster bilateral cooperation in the field of healthcare. El Khyari called the Chinese minister to back the launching of health centers, already built, but still not operating because of the absence of specialists, particularly in surgery, traumatology, gynecology, and intensive care. Cooperation can also include medicines, El Khyari said, stressing the importance of expertise trading and technological transfer between the two countries. Zhang Wenkang said in addition to their medical services, the Chinese doctors will contribute to Moroccan medical and paramedical staff training. China is ready to discuss with Morocco the holding of a training period for doctors and nurses. Wenkang, who started on Thursday a visit to Morocco, had also met Monday prime minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi. Some eight clinics will be set up in Morocco, with a 150 million Yuan support from the Chinese government.

Total Energy company has agreed to the electrification of 16,000 houses by solar kits in central Morocco. Under an accord concluded Tuesday the Moroccan Power Company (ONE) and Total Fina Elf, houses will be endowed with solar power equipment. The project will benefit 100,000 inhabitants. The project is co-financed by ONE, Total Fina Elf and the German KFW Bank. The project is part of a large-scale ONE program to supply remote areas with electricity.

Morocco's Premier, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, on Wednesday stressed the government's will to modernize internal trade and make it more competitive. Galloping globalization require political and economic decision-makers to work hand in hand to encourage private initiative, reinforce the economic fabric and promote investments, Youssoufi told the first national forum on internal trade, opened Wednesday in Casablanca, Morocco's major economic and financial center. Youssoufi noted that the enforcement of a law on free prices and competition marked a radical change, as the text introduced the principle of economic freedom and consecrated the foundations of sound and loyal competition. It is vital for public authorities and professional association to enter into a partnership that will help the commercial sectors to contribute more to the creation of new wealth and new job opportunities, Youssoufi said. The achievement of such objectives depends on the carrying on of the implementation of the liberalization policy of the commercial sector, while promoting financing mechanisms and easing administrative procedures related to investments and commerce, he said.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI, accompanied by his brother Prince Moulay Rachid, dedicated a female students house in Khemiss Zemamra, a village located at 250 km south of Rabat. The king heard explanations on the facilities destined to accommodating female girls from poor families. He toured the house, built at more than 2 million dirhams. The house, built over 3071 square meters, accommodates 100 girls until they obtain their baccalaureat degrees. The king dedicated the same day an education and literacy center in a rural locality near the city of Al-Jadida. The center will deliver educational courses to 69 children of the locality. It will also extends micro-loans to the local population. The program, worth 25 million dirhams, will help school 3,000 children and will deliver literacy courses to 5,400 people, will train 11,000 youth. The center also projects to extend between 7,200 and 9,000 micro-loans. The program will generate 86 stable jobs.

Morocco is taking part in the general Assembly of the Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), stemming from the Arab League, held this May 18-20 in Syria. The assembly, made up of Arab ministers of agriculture, will examine a report of the executive council, the center's activities and the election of a new director general for a four-year mandate. Participants stressed at the opening session the importance of the ACSAD's research and their effects on agricultural and hydraulic development, especially in the countries with dry climate, threatened by desertification. The Moroccan delegation is made up of specialists from the ministry of agriculture, rural development and water and forests. The center conducts research on seeds for arid zones with dry climate, as well as animal and hydraulic research, and organizes training sessions for Arab cadres operating in the field.

Morocco will build a national library in the capital city of Rabat on a 5 hectare surface. The project is worth some us$ 14 Mln. The convention related to the construction of the library was signed here Monday by minister of culture, Mohammed Achaari, and minister of equipment, Bouaammour Taghouane. "This is a dream that has been cherished by Moroccan intellectuals for several years," Achaari said. Taghouane stressed his department's determination to carry out the project in the best conditions.

PARIS, May 25: Morocco's King Mohamed has sent his personal adviser to Cannes to announce the holding of a film festival in his country in September. According to Mr Andre Azoulay, who is the highest-ranking adviser to King Mohamed VI, as he was previously to his father Hassan II, "the Marrakech film festival wants to bring to the world a message of tolerance and openness". In announcing the holding of this year's Marrakech festival, said Mr Azoulay, King Mohamed VI "wants to send a message to the world that you can be a country, like Morocco, which is Arabic and Islamic, be part of the same Middle Eastern sphere of influence as Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Jordan, and all the while be a country that is open, modern, tolerant and convivial". As a result, noted Mr Azoulay, "King Mohammed VI has decided to accord the Marrakech film festival the financial means necessary to allow it to speak in the name of the Arab and Islamic world, also to assure its longevity. For, he believes that it's much more culture than ideology that is capable of persuading men of the value of such ideals as mutual respect." Agencies add: "Divine Intervention", an imaginative and witty movie about Palestinian lovers trying to live their lives under Israeli military restrictions, was Saturday awarded a prize on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.  The picture, by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, was given the honor by the International Federation of the Cinematographic Press, grouping several respected critics.

A group of Egyptian, Mauritanian and Moroccan artists will be holding a fund-raising event next Saturday to contribute the building of a children amusement park in the southern city of Sakiat-Al-Hamra.The Mohammed VI children park will be built over four hectares. It will included a shelter for homeless children, restaurants, a museum for children, a bird zoo and a pavilion for local plants in addition to other leisure facilities. It is expected that the presence of renowned Egyptian artists like Safia Al Amri, Mohamed Tarouat and Samir Sabri, Mauritanian singer Simi Bent Abba and a score of Moroccan actors, musicians and singers will encourage people to donate funds for the project.

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