Moroccan-Egyptian High Joint Commission meets in Rabat in June

The Moroccan-Egyptian high joint commission will convene in Rabat during the first half of June under the co-chairmanship of King Hassan II and President Hosni Mubarak.

The announcement was made by Morocco's ambassador to Cairo, Abdellatif Mouline, after a meeting he held on Wednesday with Egyptian foreign minister Amr Moussa.

The joint commission's 3rd session was initially scheduled for May 24-26, but the Moroccan and Egyptian heads of state had decided to postpone the meeting so as to define a common and global approach on the situation in the arab world in light of the latest developments in the region, mainly the general elections in Israel.

The joint commission's third session will be preceded by a meeting of experts who will draft conventions to be submitted to the high commission. The experts will also assess the implementation of the accords that were concluded during the commission second session held in May 1998 in Cairo and that were ratified by the two countries' juridical and institutional bodies, the Moroccan diplomat told MAP bureau in Cairo.

He said the accord setting up a free trade area between the two countries has been enforced last April 29.

The third session of the joint commission will be marked by the signing of eight accords and protocols related to the sectors of fisheries, transport, agriculture, and social affairs. Major joint projects will be launched during Mubarak's visit in Morocco, mainly a sea line for the transport of goods and persons between Alexandria and Casablanca and the opening of a center to market Moroccan goods in Egypt.