King Mohammed holds talks with Ghana's Kufuor

Morocco's King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Prince Moulay Rachid, held Tuesday here talks with President John Kufuor of Ghana, who arrived the same day in Morocco for a two-day official visit at the invitation of the king.

The talks were attended on the Ghanaian side by foreign affairs minister, Hackman Owusu Agyemang, tourism minister, Hawa Yakubu and fisheries minister, Ishmael Ashitev, and on the Moroccan side by foreign affairs and cooperation minister, Mohamed Benaissa, and head of the Royal office, Mohamed Rochdi Chraibi.

Before the talks, President Kufuor was given a red carpet welcome, with thousands of people cheering King Mohammed VI and his guest.

Trade exchanges between Morocco and Ghana tripled over the past decade to go up from 42.3 million dirhams (nearly $ 4 million) in 1990 to 148.5 million dirhams (about $14.850 million) in 1999.

The increase was posted mainly thanks to a strong rise of 332.5 percent in Morocco's exports to the African country. Morocco's sales to Ghana were worth 128.9 million dirhams in 1999 against 29.8 million only in 1990.

Morocco's imports from the African nation also grew in the same period by 56.8 percent to stand at 19.7 million dirhams.

Trade between the two countries show a surplus of 110 million dirhams in Morocco's favor.

Morocco's exports to Ghana are made up of canned fish, garments, petrol oil, cheese, while imports consist of timber and coffee.