Moroccan, Spanish prime ministers meet in Marrakesh
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 12/9/2003

Moroccan prime minister, Driss Jettou, had in Marrakesh Monday evening tete-ˆ-tete talks with head of the Spanish government, Jose Maria Aznar, who is leading an official delegation to a 2-day working visit to Morocco.

Three cooperation agreements are on the agenda of the high-level meeting held under the co-chairmanship of the two heads of government.

Sources close to the session told MAP the agreements deal with swapping Moroccan debts into public and private investments and with the opening of a Spanish credit line, in addition to economic cooperation, immigration issues, mainly the situation of illegal minors in Spain, and the recruitment of Moroccan labor in Spain.

The Spanish delegation is made up of ministers of foreign affairs, justice, interior, economy, agriculture, fisheries and food, labor and social affairs, education, sports and culture, and equipment, besides some 60 senior officials.

Economic ties between Morocco and Spain have witnessed a considerable rise reaching around 1.4 billion Euro in the first half of 2003, as compares to 2.6 billion Euros for the whole of 2002.

In the same period, Spain's investments in Morocco reached 79.3 million Euro, representing 21.8% of all foreign investments operated in Morocco, while the rate stood at 5.7% in the year 2002.

In addition to economic cooperation, the meeting will hear reports by five joint task groups set up by the two countries in December 2002 to look into various bilateral issues. Those are groups in charge of political issues, economic cooperation, delimitation of territorial waters and cultural cooperation.

Relations between the two countries have significantly improved after a major spat opposed them in July 2002 when a Spanish armada invaded the Mediterranean islet of Tourah.

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