Morocco's premier in Hungary for stronger economic ties

Moroccan Premier, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, started on Sunday an official visit to Hungary in quest for stronger economic and commercial ties between Morocco and the East European nation.

The visit is aimed at "assessing the level of bilateral cooperation and looking into ways of consolidating this cooperation," Youssoufi told the press before flying to Budapest.

Trade exchanges between the two countries, which have always been weak, dropped substantially in the beginning of the 1980's to stand at $15 million, including $10 million dollars in favor of Hungary. The decrease is due to the deep structural reforms taken in the East European country upon the shift from a strong and predominating public sector to a free economy.

The Hungarian government sees in Youssoufi's visit, the first of a senior Arab official since the coming to power of the liberal party in Budapest following last May's legislative elections, an opportunity to enhance the level of economic cooperation, MAP reported.

During the visit, the two countries will conclude several accords, including a joint declaration on the setting up of a free exchange area and a tourism accord. A third accord is expected to be concluded between the Moroccan external trade bank (BMCE) and the Eximbank for the opening of a credit line destined to finance trade transactions between the two countries.

Moroccan and Hungarian officials agree on the need to make of the excellent political ties the basis for better and closer economic cooperation.