King Mohammed Starts official visit to Kuwait

Morocco's King Mohammed VI will start today an official visit to Kuwait.

A communique of the royal household, chancellery and protocol says in addition to talks with the head of the Kuwaiti state, the sovereign will also receive several top Kuwaiti officials.

Trade exchanges between the two Arab states were worth 95.8 million DH in 2001 (US$ 9.03 million) and in the first half of 2002, they were valued at 64.1 million DH (US$ 6.04 million).

Moroccan exports to Kuwait (US$ 2.8 million in 2001) consist of canned fish, synthetic and artificial fibers, apparel, and fresh and frozen vegetables. Imports (US$ 6.2 million) include artificial plastic material, unprocessed sulfur, paper, machinery and cotton fabrics.

In 2001, Kuwaiti investments in Morocco have considerably progressed from US$ 3.07 million in 2000 to US$ 13.12 million in 2001.

The Kuwaiti fund for Arab economic development has extended Morocco since 1966 loans worth US$ 729 million for various economic sectors. The loans are usually soft terms ones, with interest rates that do not exceed 3.5% and grace periods of 5 years.

Remittances of Moroccans settled in Kuwait went up from US$ 764,100 in 2000 to US$ 2.4 million in 2001 while tourism revenues also increased from US$ 13.3 million in 2000 to US$ 21.5 million in 2001.