MOROCCO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000402

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/OFI AND INL/AAE
DEPT ALSO FOR EB/TPP, EB/IFD AND DRL/IL
STATE PASS USTR FOR DOUG BELL
STATE PASS USAID FOR JENNIFER RAGLAND
USDOC ITA/MAC/ANESA FOR DAVID ROTH
USDOC FOR FSC/OIO AND CLDP
USDOL FOR ILAB
PARIS FOR ZEYA
LONDON FOR TSOU
ROME FOR ROSE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIS EAIR EINV ECPS MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS

REF A: 05 Rabat 1693

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Fishing for $400 million
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1. Fishing, which employs nearly one in ten Moroccans,
brought in nearly $400 million in 2005, a 12 percent
increase over the previous year. The highest growth came
from catches brought into the ports of Tan Tan in southern
Morocco and Laayoune, in the Western Sahara.

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Bull Run
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2. The Casablanca stock exchange is up over 30 percent
since the start of the year, leaving analysts and investors
wondering how sustainable the rally will prove to be. Both
major indexes, the Moroccan All Shares Index (MASI),a free-
floating index that includes all 55 stocks on the exchange,
and the Moroccan Most Active Shares Index (MADEX),which
includes only the 20 most traded stocks, have jumped 30
percent. The exchange's market capitalization is now up to
$36 billion, up from $27 billion at the end of 2005. Many
analysts point to a massive inflow of petrodollars from the
Gulf as the cause.

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Easier to Jet from Marrakech to Paris, London
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3. Britain's EasyJet announced that starting in July it
will offer direct daily service from London Gatwick to
Marrakech, becoming the first major low-fare carrier to fly
between the two cities. Meanwhile, new Moroccan low-cost
carrier Jet4You completed its first commercial flight on
Feb. 27 from Paris to Marrakech. The new airline will fly
daily from Paris Orly to Marrakech, and twice weekly from
Orly to Fez and Agadir.

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U.S. Firm Bets on Tourism
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4. A consortium led by U.S. investment firm Colony Capital
won a call for bids launched by the Ministry of Tourism to
develop the beach resort at Taghazout, on Morocco's southern
Atlantic coast near Agadir. Colony Capital will invest an
initial $220 million to develop the site, and then up to
another $1.1 billion on amenities. The resort will be one
of the six stations contemplated under the GOM's "Plan Azur"
tourism development program (Ref A),and will have a
capacity for 21,000 guests. Work will begin before the end
of 2006.

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Maroc Telecom Record Profits
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5. Legacy telecoms operator Maroc Telecom earned a record
2005 profit of $635 million, 12 percent higher than in 2004.
The company will invest $36 million this year in a new
undersea fiber optic cable linking northern Morocco to the

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south of France, in a bid to boost the infrastructure needed
to make the country an attractive destination for call
centers.

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Medical Brain Drain
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6. The national medical doctors union reports that 20
Moroccan physicians leave the country every month to work in
countries like France and Canada, mostly seeking higher pay.
There is one physician for every 3,000 people in Morocco,
well below the WHO-recommended figure of one per 1,000
population.

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Morocco 2014?
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7. Three large soccer stadiums launched by the GOM during
its failed bid to host the World Cup in 2010 are in an
advanced state of construction. The stadiums, which cost
$100 million each and will each hold 45,000 people, are
being built in Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir. They are
financed entirely by the state and will be finished near the
end of 2007.