London's lord mayor meets Moroccan officials
Morocco-UK, Economics, 10/11/2001

The Lord Mayor of London, Lord Alderman David Howard, who is paying a work visit to Morocco October 9-12 at the head of a business delegation, held talks with several members of the Moroccan cabinet.

Lord Howard who was received Wednesday afternoon at the royal palace in Marrakesh by King Mohammed VI, conferred in Rabat with Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi.

Youssoufi voiced appreciation for the "substantial improvement" scored in Morocco's trade with Great Britain, which is Morocco's 3rd largest export market and 6th largest import market. This improvement has led the British government to choose Morocco as one of fourteen target markets worldwide for a special three-year campaign of trade development, he recalled.

The two sides stressed the need to consolidate cooperation between the City, London's financial district, and the Casablanca stock exchange.

Lord Howard and the group of businessmen accompanying him had conferred on Tuesday with minister of economy, finance, privatization and tourism, Fathallah Oualaou.

The Moroccan official surveyed the broad lines of Morocco's economy, laying a special emphasis on existing investment opportunities.

The British delegation's visit will highlight by the setting up of a Moroccan-British business council.

King Mohammed VI had called, when he received Lord Howard Wednesday, British Banks and the City's financial companies to show keener interest in the Moroccan market and in the new investment opportunities provided by Morocco mainly in the sectors of tourism, new technologies and telecommunications.

The sovereign spoke in this regard of the possibility for the City to set up specialized investment funds for Morocco that might participate in the privatization operations, in the promotion of new tourism areas and in the sector of new technologies.

The London Lord mayor is elected for a year-term to run the activities of the City.

Morocco is the only country in the Maghreb and the only Francophone country in Africa picked by the British government as a target market for a promotion campaign.

In 2000, UK exports to Morocco totaled 6.7 billion Dirhams while imports were worth 7.7 billion DH. Bilateral trade tripled during the 1990s and in 2000, Moroccan exports to the UK increased by 18% and imports increased by 15%, compared to 1999.

Previous Stories:
  London's Lord Mayor visits Morocco in October   (9/26/2001)
  Britain Targets Morocco for Trade Promotion Campaign   (8/3/2001)
  Moroccan - British Trade on the Rise   (1/12/2001)

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