Executive board of Moroccan - Egyptian business council meets in casablanca

The executive boad of the Moroccan-Egyptian business council will hold a meeting next week in Casablanca, it was officially announced here.

The meeting will look into a report on the evolution of commercial and economic relations between Morocco and Egypt and will assess the implementation of the decisions made by the council and by the high joint commission, which held its latest session last May in Cairo.

Members of the board will examine with Moroccan trade, handicraft, energy and mining minister, Mustapha Mansouri, arrangements to increase the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries.

The Moroccan-Egyptian business council will invite the two governments to implement the bilateral free exchange accord and revise the list of free-tax products, Yamani Foulfoula, Egyptian businessman and member of the council told MAP.

The businessman called the two countries to ease administrative and custom procedures to contribute to the increase of trade exchanges.

Trade between the two Arab nations totaled $ 45 million last year.

Foulfoula also called for holding Moroccan-Tunisian-Egyptian tripartite meetings at governmental level to agree on the establishment of a free exchange area that will be the core of a common market among the Arab countries of North Africa.

Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia are bound by separate free exchange accords.

Moroccan foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, had called last month for a meeting of Moroccan, Egyptian, Tunisia and Jordanian foreign ministers to study a project to set up a common market for the four nations, that will be a step towards a larger Arab common market.