Morocco, Ivory Coast sign cooperation accords

Morocco and Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) concluded several cooperation accords to give a boost to their economic and trade exchanges.

The accords deal with cooperation in the fields of justice, trade, geology, mining and oil research, youth and sports, tourism, merchant navy, fisheries and fish culture. The foreign ministries of the two countries also agreed to promote consultation under a cooperation protocol.

Moroccan and Ivoirian businessmen on their part concluded cooperation and partnership accords in oil and housing fields. The Moroccan private group "Chaabi" struck an 85 billion CFA Franc deal with the Cote D'Ivoire government to build 6,000 lodgings in Abidjan.

The agreements were concluded at the end of the Morocco-Cote D'Ivoire high joint commission, whose works were co-chaired by Moroccan Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, and Cote D'Ivoire peer, Daniel Kablan Duncan.

The accords usher in a new phase towards consolidated bilateral relations, Youssoufi said at the commission's closing session.

Bilateral economic relations, which stagnated in the 1980's, were given a tangible boost in the 1990's. in 1998, Morocco's exports to Cote D'Ivoire increased by 18 % compared to 1997 to stand at more than $ 67 million. Morocco's imports from Cote d'Ivoire were worth $ 2.89 million.

Morocco is the 13th investor in Cote D'Ivoire, where 15 Moroccan firms are currently operating.

Youssoufi visited Abidjan part of an African tour that already took him to Senegal and Guinea. On Wednesday, Youssoufi flew to Gabon and he is yet to visit Burkina Faso.

The tour is meant to consolidate brotherly ties between Morocco and these countries and deepen relations in commercial and cultural fields.