Rabat and Tunis decide to intensify cooperation
Tunisia-Morocco, Economics, 7/16/1998

Morocco and Tunisia, whose high joint commission wound up a two-day session in Tunis on Thursday, decided to intensify cooperation in various fields.

To materialize this goal, the two countries concluded a series of accords and conventions, to provide a legal framework for the consolidation of their ties.

The agreements include an accord setting up a business council, a technical cooperation convention in addition to other accords in the fields of commerce and health.

The two sides also concluded cooperation programs in the field of youth, childhood and sports, education, vocational training and energy and mining.

On Wednesday, Moroccan and Tunisian businessmen said the potentials and similarities between the two countries' economies plead for a better integration and complementary between the two Maghreban nations.

The similarities between the Moroccan and Tunisian economies are an ideal platform for a better commercial and economic integration between the two countries' industrial sectors, head of the Tunisian Industry, Commerce and Handicraft Union (UTICA), Hedi Jilani told a dinner banquet held in Tunis.

The dinner was attended by Moroccan Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, who co-chaired with his Tunisian counterpart, Hamed Karoui, the Moroccan-Tunisian high joint commission meetings.

The Tunisian businessman said his union and the Moroccan Industrial Federation (CGEM/employers' association) convened to work hand-in-hand to promote bilateral trade exchange and ensure economic integration.

Youssoufi and Karoui both agreed during the opening session of the joint commission that Moroccan-Tunisian trade exchange is still short of the expected levels. Trade between the two countries totaled $90 million in 1997, decreasing by $10 million over 1996.

The two countries' industrial federations agreed to set up a business council in a bid to boost contacts between investors.

Hedi Jilani urged Morocco and Tunisia to harmonize their administrative, financial and social regulations to lay down a sound basis for bilateral and Maghreban economic cooperation.

Youssoufi said Morocco and Tunisia should imperatively boost the overture of their respective economies in accordance with the association accords that Rabat and Tunis already signed with the European Union, Map reported.

If it is judiciously exploited, such an overture can offer great opportunities for development and job generation, Youssoufi said, before expressing a belief that the consolidation of ties between economic operators is the best means to achieve integration within the Mediterranean region, particularly in the present globalization environment.

The Moroccan prime minister had conferred previously with speaker of the Tunisian parliament, Fouad Mebazaa, and the members of his accompanying ministerial delegation held side talks with their Tunisian peers on ways to enhance bilateral relations.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan-Tunisian bilateral commission debates ways to boost cooperation   (7/15/1998)
  Moroccan prime minister visits Tunisia   (7/13/1998)
  Tunisian and Moroccan companies to boost presence in US market   (12/25/1997)

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