3 - 9 January 2002
Issue No.567
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 3 - 9 January 2002 Issue No.567 |
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Egypt and Morocco to boost bilateral relations
High-level consultations between Egyptian and Moroccan officials next week are expected to take bilateral relations to new heights. Eman Youssef reports
Egyptian and Moroccan economic officials and businessmen from both countries are currently preparing for a series of meetings that are expected to give bilateral relations a strong push forward.
The meetings will coincide with an upcoming visit by President Hosni Mubarak to Morocco, scheduled for 11 January. During the visit, the president and King Mohamed VI will co-chair the fifth Egyptian-Moroccan Joint Supreme Committee meeting. The proceedings are scheduled to include the signing of three agreements for cooperation in judicial matters, tourism and the stock market.
"The committee will bring together senior officials and about 60 businessmen in various fields," said Ibrahim Abu Omaira, chairman of the Egyptian-Moroccan Chamber of Commerce.
The president will be accompanied by the ministers of economy, supply and internal trade, foreign affairs and a group of businessmen.
A series of seminars to promote investment opportunities in each country will be held alongside the committee meetings, said Abu Omaira.
The volume of trade between Egypt and Morocco was $112 million during 2001. Trade is growing at a brisk clip as evidenced by the fact that $92 million-worth of the figure for 2001 covered the second half of the year.
"By the end of 2002, we expect the volume of trade between Egypt and Morocco to reach $200 million," Abu Omaira told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Moroccan exports to Egypt in 2001, made up primarily of consumer goods and tobacco, were worth $43 million. Egyptian exports to Morocco during the same period amounted to $69 million and were made up mainly of capital goods used by the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
This month's meeting in Morocco is part of regular commercial contacts between the two countries. In March, an Egyptian business delegation visited Morocco to enhance bilateral trade relations between the two countries.
Among this year's achievements was the signing of a protocol worth $13 million for trading medical equipment. Alongside government- initiated endeavours, the six-year old Egyptian- Moroccan Chamber of Commerce has been active in promoting commercial relations. One of the fruits of the chamber's activities was the establishment of a bilateral holding company with a capital of $10 million.
In the last three years, sound macro-economic management has given Morocco a commendable record of internal and external stability. Among the achievements of that period are the stabilisation of inflation at less than three per cent and the augmentation of the state's foreign reserves.
Mustafa Razouk, economic counsellor at the Moroccan embassy in Cairo, said that the government implemented a series of structural reforms and simplified customs procedures. Regulations governing the banking and commercial sectors have also been liberalised.
In the last few years, Morocco also enjoyed positive terms of trade developments (with phosphate prices increasing against a decline in both oil and cereal prices). Strong exports receipts helped offset a surge in imports. Although foreign direct investment has declined well below the exceptional inflows of 1997, together with other private capital inflows, they were sufficient to finance the low current account deficit and net repayment of public external debt.
Infrastructure, particularly in rural areas and in transportation was upgraded.
Despite Morocco's recent economic achievements, it faces some daunting challenges. Topping these are a staggering external debt, which, at $18.5 billion in 1999, was roughly equivalent to 50 per cent of the country's GDP. Unemployment, which is estimated at about 20 per cent, is another major hurdle.
To deal with these challenges, the Moroccan government is working to attract foreign investment and to decrease the country's vulnerability to the exigencies of the international economy.
Abu Omaira said, "Large projects play a central role in the government's investment schemes, with subsidies being granted for land acquisition costs, external infrastructure acquisition and personnel training." He emphasised that the Euro-Mediteranean Association Agreement (EMAA) between Morocco and the EU, which came into force on 1 March 2000, is expected to provide an impetus for the revitalisation of the Moroccan economy. "Increased competition provides an additional incentive for privatisation," said Abu Omaira.
In August 2000 Morocco had good news with the announcement that it has oil reserves estimated to be between 1.5-2 billion barrels -- equivalent to the country's projected domestic needs for 25 to 30 years. Prior to the discovery of oil and gas deposits in the Talsint region near the border with Algeria, Morocco was not thought to have any such resources.
Among Morocco's other economic assets are fertile lands, rich fisheries, a booming tourist industry, a growing manufacturing base, plus a steady flow of remittances from Moroccans working abroad ($2.04 billion in 1998).
Agriculture, which accounted for 18 per cent of Morocco's GDP in 1999, plays a major role in the economy. However, the centrality of this sector means that a drought can trigger a domestic recession. Morocco is the biggest producer and exporter of fish in Africa and the Arab world and last year this sector contributed more than $600 million to the country's export earnings.
Industry, which consists primarily of medium- sized enterprises, accounted for 19 per cent of GDP in 1995.
About 30 Moroccan businessmen are expected to visit Egypt in March 2002 to attend the Cairo International Fair, Abu Omaira told Al-Ahram Weekly. He also said that an exhibition for Egyptian products will be held in Morocco in June 2002.
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