Belgian premier starts visit to Morocco
Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene arrived in Rabat this Tuesday for a 24-hour official visit at the invitation of Moroccan Premier Abderrahmane Youssoufi.
The Belgian official's visit will be marked by the signing of several cooperation accords between the two countries and by talks on bilateral cooperation in the financial, cultural and technical fields, as well as on relations between the European Union and Mediterranean countries.
Morocco's inclusion among the recipient countries of non-reimbursable assistance, enlarging the scope of financial cooperation, and granting loans to small and medium-sized enterprises will be among the topics discussed at the Moroccan-Belgian meetings.
The two countries will also work out a cultural cooperation program covering the three coming years and will examine several juridical issues including problems related to marriage, inheritance and children custody, the enforcement of justice rulings and the transfer of prisoners.
The Belgian prime minister who is accompanied by a business delegation, told MAP bureau in Brussels on the eve of this visit that he would assess with his Moroccan interlocutors bilateral cooperation and more particularly the projects carried out part of assistance to development.
He said that the secretary of state for cooperation to development, Reginald Moreels, who is member of the Belgian visiting party will visit Belgium-funded projects, including a water treatment station in Ouarzazate, 528 km south of Rabat, to find out how to further this cooperation and work out plans for new projects. The sanitation of Ouarzazate and the financing of health projects in Ouarzazate and Zagora are part of these new projects.
He added that his trip to Morocco will consolidate ties not only with Morocco but also with the Moroccan community settled in Belgium.
According to the latest available figures, the Moroccan community settled in Belgium is 200,000 strong and its remittances amounted in 1998 to 1.286 billion dirhams ($ 132.5 million).
Morocco's imports from Belgium are made up of chemical products, machinery, medical products and plastic items while exports to the European country consist of phosphates, citrus fruits and textile.