Al Ahdath Al Maghribya: Morocco attracted $ 3 billion in foreign investments in 2003

Morocco received in 2003 US$ 3 billion-worth of foreign investments, said Hassan Bernoussi, head of investments.

The official who was interviewed by "Al Ahdath Al Maghribya" daily said foreign investments hardly exceeded an annual average of US$ 500 million in the 90's, stressing that the rise in foreign investments is an illustration of the success of Morocco's policy of economic openness.

He further stressed that most attractive sectors in 2004 will be tourism, agro-food, electronics, aeronautics, the new information and communication technologies and the cinema industry.

According to the 2003 UNCTAD report, returns of foreign direct investments in Morocco soared by 172.3% between the 1991-1996 and the 1997-2002 periods, from US$ 2.4 billion to US$ 6.64 billion. The evolution has enabled Morocco to go from the 4th to the 1st largest recipient of FDS in the Arab states, ahead of Egypt (US$ 5.42 billion) and Saudi Arabia (US$ 4.34 billion).