Canadian minister leads business delegation to Algeria, Morocco

Canadian foreign trade minister, Pierre Pettigrew, will lead a business delegation this October 10-20 to Morocco, Algeria, Spain and Portugal.

An official statement released in Ottawa says "it is one of the most important operations by the Canadian foreign trade department." It seeks to promote Canadian trade interests and consolidate Canada's links with these countries.

Morocco and Algeria are countries undergoing political, economic and social mutations and Spain and Portugal are very interesting markets for Canadian exports, said the minister who will be leading a business delegation of over 100 enterprises.

These firms are operating in information and telecom technologies, construction, agriculture, agro-food, commercial services, energy products and techniques, transports, oil and natural gas, health, education and environment.

In Morocco, the minister said he will meet premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi, industry, trade and handicraft minister over how to improve Canada's presence in Africa.

According to data released by the Canadian federal foreign trade department, the flow of goods between Canada and the four Mediterranean countries totaled in 1999 three billion Canadian dollars,, including 1.4 bln with Spain, 1.1 billion with Algeria, 320 millions with Portugal and 189.3 million with Morocco.