MOROCCO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000742 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 NATE MASON 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 EINV EFIS EWWT KFLU KHIV MO WS SUBJECT: MOROCCO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS -------------- Sahara Concerns Delay EU Fisheries Agreement -------------- ¶1. An EU-Morocco fisheries agreement signed in July 2005 has been delayed due to opposition from some EU governments about whether the deal should include fishing grounds off the disputed Western Sahara. Last year, after six years of talks, the GOM signed a $160 million, four-year deal that would allow 119 European boats to fish the waters off Morocco's Atlantic coast. Spain's fishing fleet will be the main beneficiary; 95 of the 119 permits will go to Spanish fishing boats, 14 to Portugal and 10 to France. The agreement was supposed to go into effect on March 1, but several northern EU countries have expressed concern with European trawlers fishing off the Western Sahara. EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg says that since Morocco is the de facto administrator of the territory, the planned EU- Morocco fisheries deal is valid under international law. An earlier fisheries agreement referred to waters over which Morocco had "sovereignty or jurisdiction." -------------- New Call Centers -------------- ¶2. Webcad, a branch of the French group Webhelp, will expand its network of call centers in Morocco with an investment of $12 million over three years, creating an estimated 1,000 new jobs. The move follows an investment by the same company four years ago that created 1,700 jobs. Webcad directors said the choice of Morocco as a host country was due to the "high level of French language in the country, the use of modern technologies, and the quality of living conditions in the kingdom." -------------- Avian Flu Simulation Exercise -------------- ¶3. Moroccan authorities held a simulation exercise to rehearse their reaction to the detection of avian influenza in the local bird population. The exercise was the first test of coordinated action from multiple ministries in response to an outbreak. Units from the ministries of Agriculture, Interior, Health, and Forestry cordoned off areas in a series of concentric zones around the affected area and simulated the removal and distribution of diseased animals. Meanwhile, poultry consumption and prices remain depressed as periodic press reports of findings of dead birds keep the general public fearful of poultry meat. -------------- UAE Investing Billions in Moroccan Tourism -------------- ¶4. Morocco and two investment groups from the United Arab Emirates have signed eight investment contracts worth $9 billion to develop tourism projects in the kingdom. Investments spread over ten years will focus on tourist infrastructure and real estate development projects in Rabat, Marrakech, Casablanca and Tangier. -------------- RABAT 00000742 002 OF 002 New HIV Advocacy Association -------------- ¶5. An advocacy group for HIV positive people was created in Casablanca on April 14. "Annahar Association," the first of its kind in Morocco, will fight stigmatization and discrimination against the seropositive and create income generating activities for the reintegration of people living with HIV. The first case of AIDS in Morocco was discovered in 1986 in a man infected by a blood transfusion during surgery in France. Fewer than 2,000 cases of ull-blown AIDS have been reported in Morocco sine then, but local experts say there are 16,000 t 25,000 HIV positive people in Morocco. -------------- Port Accord Tangier-Baltimore -------------- ¶6. Tangier-Med port in northern Morocco has signed a cooperation agreement with the Port of Baltimore covering various port activities including the standardization of documentation and other port procedures. The accord was signed in Tangier by the president of the Tangier-Med board of directors, Said El-Hadi, and the managing director of Baltimore Port, Brooks Royster. When Tangier-Med is opened in mid-2007 it will handle transshipment traffic that will go directly to U.S. ports like Baltimore. RILEY