Forum for the Future, a 'successful conference', Colin Powell

The Forum for the Future that wound up, in Rabat Saturday, was a "successful conference," said the U.S. Secretary of State who paid tribute for Morocco and to King Mohammed VI for having hosted this important event.

It was a "very successful conference. It is important that is held in the region where there is pressure, and as we listen, for need of reforms and how the nations of the region want to move forward," said Colin Powell at a joint press conference with his Moroccan counterpart Mohamed Benaissa, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, John Snow and Moroccan Finance and privatisation Minister Fathallah Oualalou.

The U.S. official insisted, once again, that "reforms have to come from within not from the outside."

Colin Powell also insisted on the role of the Civil Society who voiced the need for reforms in the region. "we cannot hold up reforms or slow the pace of reforms" because they are "necessary," he emphasized.

The U.S. Secretary of State acknowledged however that reforms are already underway in a number of countries of what his Government calls the broader Middle East and North Africa, including Morocco.

Answering a question on the $100 Million fund that the group of the most industrialized countries known as G-8 has decided to set up to help countries of the region carry out those reforms - an amount which is considered as "modest"- in view of the number of countries (20) that should benefit from it, Mr. Powell said: "we are doing everything we can to address many other things that we are doing for example with Morocco which has been selected to benefit from the Millenium Challenge Account" set up by the Bush Administration. He also recalled President's Bush decision to double the amount of the assistance to development to Morocco.

Echoing him, U.S. treasury Secretary John Snow reforms are already underway in the region which, he said, is "very encouraging." He said the meeting of the Finance Ministers of the area with their partners from the G-8, held in parallel with the Foreign Ministers meeting at the Forum for the Future, has decided to hold a follow up session next year probably in conjunction with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund's meetings and to establish a working group to continue to monitor progress of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) facility and the network funds, as well as the permanent ongoing efforts in those countries.

He said that the Finance Minister's meetings serve to reinforce reforms that are underway and suggest that real progress has been made, underling, on his part, that reforms have to come from within the region.