Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire set up $7.5 million joint venture, other accords

Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire agreed Tuesday in Rabat to set up a $7.5 million joint venture to produce gas bottles in Abidjan.

The venture, dubbed "Simagas," will be created by Moroccan gas firm "Somepi," Cote D'Ivoire's "Petroci" and Italy's "Raga Engineering."

Construction will start in November, and the venture is expected to be operational by April 1999. The factory's initial production capacity is estimated at 350,000 gas cylinders per year.

Moroccan Somepi firm will hold 34 percent of the venture's capital, the Cote D'ivoire company Petroci will hold 35 percent while the Italian company will take 17 percent and the remainder will be divided among smaller investors.

The venture came into being on the fringes of the working visit the prime minister of Cote D'Ivoire is paying to Morocco since last weekend.

Meanqwhile, Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire signed Tuesday in Rabat a package of cooperation accords meant to bolster partnership between the two countries in trade, agriculture and tourism.

The accords, concluded on the occasion of the working visit Cote D'Ivoire's prime minister has been paying to Morocco since last weekend, provides for gradual lowering of customs duties and exchange of experience in farming, forest management, rural development, tourism and hotel promotion.

The two countries also pledged to grant trade and fiscal incentives to upgrade trade exchanges from the current $53 million to over $200 million in the next few years.

Trade exchanges between Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire were valued in 1997 at usd 53 Mln, a 19 percent increase compared to the 1996 figures.