Moroccan development plan to reduce social gaps, minister says

One of the major targets of the 1999-2003 five-year development plan is to reduce social gaps, the Moroccan minister of economic forecasts and planning said.

The plan should not be perceived as a purely economic program, but as a social project meant to enable Morocco to face globalization challenges, Abdelhamid Aouad told a meeting entitled, "What Planning for Morocco's Social and Economic Development."

He said the 1999-2003 plan seeks to reduce social disparities between regions through enforcing new laws, boosting local development and adapting the production apparatus to the provisions of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

The plan revolves around the development of the rural world, promotion of human resources and improvement of education, Aouad said.

The Moroccan government has been intensifying meetings to explain the five-year plan.