Moroccan delegation to tour Gulf states next month

A large Moroccan delegation of government officials and leading businessmen, led by Minister of Economy and Finance Fathallah Oualalou, will tour the six Arab gulf states forming the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next month, Oualalou told Moroccan second TV channel 2M.

The tour, the first to the oil-rich region by a senior member of Morocco's Socialist-led government since it was appointed in March, will lead the delegation to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Oualalou said the visits would open prospects for new joint ventures with economic development funds in these countries.

He said one of these funds, the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development, was among "the main foreign investors in Morocco's roads, water pipelines and dam projects in the last decades."

"Our brothers in the Arab Gulf believe that Morocco has special business ties with Europe...On the contrary, we consider ourselves as part of the Arab world and therefore we should reinforce our cooperation," Oualalou told 2M.

Total Gulf Arab investments in Morocco are estimated at around $1.0 billion, mainly in real estate, tourism and oil sectors.