THE
NORTH AFRICA JOURNAL
150th. Issue
Week ending June 27, 2004
entire PDF
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Is
The Moroccan Economy Growing Sufficiently? - By
Arezki Daoud
Morocco
is working hard to become an equal partner of the European and American
economies. Its recent signing of a free-trade agreement with the
United States will have an effect, hopefully positive, but it can
also be possibly negative on its economy and its people. Although
Morocco has a few more years to prepare before it completely removes
its trade barriers, a decade is not much to fully prepare the economy
for what is likely to become an inbound trade tsunami. In the next
few years Morocco will need to build the bases and must grow at
a fast rate to catch up with the basics, however between the expected
4% growth in 2004 and 3% in 2005, the longer-term prospect of raising
Morocco’s industrial and economic standards to those of its
giant partners will be difficult, if not impossible to attain. Future
challenges will not only come from the highly efficient American
and European companies, but also and perhaps more importantly from
the highly aggressive and cost-effective Asian firms.
Petroleum/Corporate
Sonatrach’s International Entrepreneurial Initiatives
The Algerian oil and gas company Sonatrach is switching a greater proportion of its capital and investment efforts to the international market. Its announcement of investing $900 million on securities in foreign markets is just one of many initiatives aimed at positioning the firm as a key player in the global oil and gas market. Indeed, the company’s executives have been pushing Sonatrach to a greater international exposure as the outlook in the world’s energy demand appears to its advantage.
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Trade
Tunisian Garment and Textile Makers Enter the British Market
Tunisian garment and textile makers are eyeing the British market and have already successfully grown their share of that market in a relatively short period of time. A road show called Textile Tunisia was organized in early June in an event aimed at boosting the country’s profile as a textile exporter. The road show was the fifth one organized in the past five years and was sponsored by the textile industry association and Tunisia’s export and foreign investment agencies.
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Petroleum/Corporate
Vanco Searches for Oil Offshore Morocco
The Canadian oil company Vanco is currently drilling an exploration well some 130 kilometers from Agadir, off shore Morocco. Vanco, which was granted an exploration permit in 2001, has mobilized a specialized ship with a crew of 170 on board. Drilling started in mid May and has reached today a depth of more than 2,200 meters. The company’s goal is to reach a depth of 4,000 meters before proceeding with the standard analysis of the samples it collected
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Trade
Algeria’s Entry Into WTO: Busy Month for Algerian Trade Negotiators. Issues on Banking, Agriculture and Energy Prices Remain
Algeria and the World Trade Organization have begun this week their seventh round of talks in Geneva aimed at allowing Algeria’s entry into the WTO. This session will be a lengthy one and will last one month, ending on July 26.
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Consumption
No Regulation on the Import of GM Food in Morocco
Moroccans are unaware whether they currently consume genetically modified (GM) food. There is no legislation banning it, approving it or simply regulating the use of it. But there is a consensus among food experts that GM foods are there and part of the Moroccan households’ consumption habits.
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