Tijaris 122 - 123:Tijaris 107 21/12/03 12:04 Page 1 TIJARIS · 2012. 4. 16. · Tijaris 122 -...

TIJARISPublished by the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade

issue 122-123, December 2011

His Majestythe King,

Mohammed VI,King of Morocco

ICDT's Participation inthe IDB's Trade Forum

The Importance ofTransportation in the

OIC Member States

the bridge to the World

SPECIALCOUNTRY:

KINGDOM OFMOROCCO

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TIJARISSince “Tijaris” is disseminated to 57 Member States and read by economic operators, take

advantage of the business opportunities appearing on it togenerate more trade flows.

We want indeed to make of this magazine a suitable space for dialogue, firstly, foreconomic operators and secondly, to create unlimited opportunities to get your products well

known...

So entrust the advertisements of your products and services to us, trust “Tijaris” and be surethat your adverts will be widely disseminated by this magazine in such a manner as to meet

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So subscribe now and make your adverts on our magazine.

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Tel: 212 522 31 49 74Fax: 212 522 31 01 10

E-mail: [email protected]

IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THATTRUST

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Tijaris 122-123 - December 2011 3

EDITORIAL- The importance of Textiles and

Cotton Sector in the Economiesof the OIC Member Countries

ICDT'S PARTICIPATION IN THEIDB'S TRADE FORUM

DIPLOMACY- Visits to ICDT's headquarters

of Their Excellencies theAmbassadors of the PeopleʼsRepublic of Bangladesh andof the Islamic Republic ofPakistan accredited to Rabat

TRADE PROMOTION* Commodity Trade- OIC Central Asia Business Forum

- 14th OIC-EXPO 2013 - Iran- OIC-China-Expo 2013- 1st OIC Cotton and Textiles

Exhibition - Ouagadougou

* Trade in Services- Forum and Exhibition on

higher education services inthe OIC Member States

- 1st OIC-Tunisia Health Expo2012

- Calendar of Trade Fairs &Exhibitions of the OIC Countries

TOURISM PROMOTION- 2nd OIC Tourism Expo 2012- Calendar of Tourism Fairs &

Exhibitions of the OIC Countries

FORUMS & CONFERENCES- Seminar on Logistics and

Transportation and their Role inTrade Promotion between the OICMember States

- The Istanbul Conference onneeds assessment of the OICMember States in the field ofCompetition law and policy

TIJARIS - ISSN 0651 - 1578

DIRECTOR GENERALDr. El Hassane HZAINE

EDITORHoucine RAHMOUNI

DRAFTING COMMITTEESALL Mamoudou Bocar

Amadou Cire SALLAbdel Aziz ALAMI

Med Mokhtar BDIOUIMerieme EZZAKIKadiatou DIALLOBrahim ALLALI

Rajae BENMOUSSAMohamed CHIBA

Tarik MERRIRachid AZAROUAL

EXPERT CONSULTANTRajae BENMOUSSA

Contents - Issue 122-123 - December 2011

ECONOMY, FINANCE &INVESTMENT- The Importance of Transportation

in the OIC Member States

- Trade Regulations & Agreements

INTERNATIONAL TRADENEGOTIATIONS- The Accession Status of the OIC

Member States to the WTOand ICDTʼs assistance to OICMember Countries within theMultilateral Trade Negotiations

TRADE SUPPORTINSTITUTIONS- Maroc Export

SPECIAL COUNTRY:KINGDOM OF MOROCCO

4 15

45

46

47

52

50

16

19

32

37

40

5

6

7

11

13

- The Moroccan Agency forInvestment Development

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

MEET WITH- The Arab Maghreb Union- Agadir Agreement

E-COMMERCE- Trade Information Network for

Islamic Countries: TINIC- Virtual Exhibition

ICDT'S LIBRARY

ACTIVITIES OF THECONSULTATIVE GROUP FORENHANCING INTRA-OIC TRADE- The assessment of the imple-

mentation of the “Executive Pro-gramme of the Roadmap forEnhancing Intra-OIC Trade”

- Activities of the COMCEC: 27thMinisterial Meeting

IN BRIEF

ICDT'S ACTIVITIES

41

43

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otton plays an important role in thesocio-economic development of theOIC Member States, particularly inCentral and West Africa as well as inCentral Asia, where over 30 millionpeople live from the cotton production.Cotton is also an important source offoreign currency for a significant num-ber of the OIC Countries. It is, indeed,of a crucial importance, since it repre-sents a revenue source for the follow-ing countries: Benin, Burkina Faso,Mali, Chad and Togo, where it pro-vides between 5 and 10% of the GDPand where fiber cotton exportsaccount for nearly one-third of the totalexport earnings and over 60% of agri-cultural exports revenues. Meanwhilefor other countries such as Tajikistan,cotton is a major source of income formuch of the population.Despite the relating advantages thecotton industry enjoys in several OICMember States, it continues to faceweaknesses in production and pro-cessing at the institutional and struc-tural levels. These weaknesses ham-per its viability at a time when globali-sation and competition are spreadingaround the world. Indeed, the cottonsector in many OIC Countries stillfaces serious challenges because ofthe continued high subsidies paid tocotton producers in developed coun-tries and the fixed international pricefluctuations experienced in the rawmaterials' stock exchanges. Asregards West African countries, thehigh international prices will not nec-essarily influence prices in CFA franc,if the dollar remains weak.Despite the rapid and significantincrease in the prices which have

been recorded recently in the2010/2011 period, there has been aneed to reform the cotton and textilesector in order to prevent the OICCountriesʼ cotton producers from thesituation they had been faced withfrom 2003 to 2010. In fact, some OICCountriesʼ cotton producers as Turkey,Pakistan and Egypt have a greatexperience in the field of the efficientproduction and the high-quality cottonprocessing. Taking this into accountand considering the strategic role thatthe cotton sector plays in theeconomies of some OIC MemberStates, the Organisation of IslamicCooperation (OIC) has worked hard toestablish an effective strategy toenhance the cotton sector and over-whelm the barriers that hamper itsdevelopment in the OIC MemberCountries. In this context, HE Prof. Dr.Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OICSecretary General, paid a visit inMarch 2005 to six OIC MembersAfrican cotton producing countries,namely, Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia,Mali, Niger and Senegal to get knowl-edge himself of the socio-economicconditions prevailing in these coun-tries and, at the same time, to initiateurgent measures to help such coun-tries economically and socially.Following this visit, the Government ofBurkina Faso, the OIC, the IDB Groupand ICDT organised a forum onEnergizing Trade and Investment inthe Cotton Sector of OIC MemberStates” in April 2005 in Ouagadougou.In 2006, the OIC has established aFive-Year Plan of Action on Cotton(2007-2011) to develop the most prac-tical ways to improve co-operation

ByDr. EL Hassane HZAINE

Director General

The Importance of the Textiles and Cotton Sectorin the Economies of the OIC Member Countries

EDITORIAL

C

among the OIC Member Countries inthe field of the production and trade ofcotton, so as to enable them to boostthe sectorʼs efficiency.This Plan has been provided with agovernance setting composed of aSteering Committee and a ProjectCommittee created for the implemen-tation of the OIC Action Plan onCotton.It should be noted that ICDT is one ofthe few OICʼs institutions that hasundertaken concrete actions in thisfield. We can quote as example, theorganisation by the Centre of the«Forum on Energizing Trade andInvestment in the Cotton Sector of OICMember States”» held in 2005 inOuagadougou, Burkina Faso, theWorkshop on «Trade and investmentin the Cotton Sector in the OICMember. States» held on October12th- 13th, 2009 in Cairo, ArabRepublic of Egypt, in conjunction withthe 12th Trade Fair of the OIC MemberStates, the fourth meeting of theSteering Committee and the 3rdMeeting of the Project Committee onCotton held on September 27th-28th,2010 in Casablanca (Morocco), theFirst Cotton and Textiles Exhibition ofthe OIC Member States and the 5thMeeting of the Steering Committee, inaddition to the 4th Meeting of theProject Committee on Cotton held inSeptember 2011 in Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso. �

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ICDTʼs Participation in the IDB Trade ForumJeddah, Saudi ArabiaOctober 9th, 2011

Within the framework of the implementation of the “OIC Ten Year Plan of Action to meet the challenges facing theIslamic Ummah in the 21st Century”, particularly the target aiming at increasing the proportion of intra-OIC tradefrom 14% to 20% of the total trade volume of the OIC Countries by the year 2015, the IDB Group, the InternationalIslamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and the Group Trade Related Issues Committee (GTRC), organised ahigh level trade Forum on “the challenges of achieving intra-OIC trade target by 2015”, in Jeddah at IDB Groupheadquarters on October 9th, 2011.This forum, which was attended by the Representatives of the IDB Group Departments, the Islamic Corporationfor the Insurance of Investments and Export credit (ICIEC), the Islamic Corporation for Development of PrivateSector (ICD), ITFC and ICDT, aimed at examining the challenges to raise the volume of intra-OIC trade to 20% ofthe global trade of Member States by 2015.The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade was represented at this Forum by Dr. El Hassane HZAINE, ActingDirector General, who received, at the opening ceremony, the warmest thanks and gratitude of HE Dr. WaleedAbdulmuhsen AL WOHAIB, Chief Executive Officer of the ITFC, for the sustainable efforts deployed regardingintra-OIC trade issues and for ICDTʼs co-operation with the ITFC.On this occasion, Dr. HZAINE made two presentations dealing respectively with: “The current and expected intra-OIC trade” and the “Outline of the progress report on the implementation of the Executive programme for enhanc-ing intra-OIC trade” that will be submitted to the upcoming COMCEC session.Dr. HZAINE seized the opportunity to award His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Mohamed ALI, President of the IDB Group,a trophy for the kind assistance his Institution has been pro-viding to ICDT since its inception. At the end of this Forum,participants made the following recommendations to raise thevolume of intra-OIC trade to 20% in the overall trade of OICMember States by 2015:*To set up a special trade development fund, supplied bymember countries and other donors to finance the “Executiveprogramme of the Roadmap for achieving intra-OIC Trade tar-gets”;*To consolidate the TPS/OIC by a quick implementation of thePRETAS;*To convene on a sensitizing event on the significance of theTPS/ OIC in promoting trade and economic growth in the OICMember States;*To invite the ICDT and the ITFC to carry out the feasibilityStudy on the project establishing an OIC Free Trade Area;*To review and revitalise the roles and enhance the capabilities of the OIC trade related Institutions committed toimplement the Executive Programme for enhancing intra-OIC trade;*To revitalise the regional economic groupings especially GAFTA, ECOWAS and AMU in order to enhance theintra-trade of Regional Economic Groupings (REG);*To enhance and set up bridges among REG within OIC, eg: GCC/ECO, GAFTA/ECOWAS, to develop inter-regional trade;*To prepare a report on the current status of the intra-OIC trade challenges and obstacles that prevent the achieve-ment of the intra-OIC trade targets, set up by the Makkah Summit of 20% by 2015;*To review the roadmap and its Executive Programme for enhancing intra-OIC trade with a view to defining theroles of the main players (Member States, regional economic groupings, OIC trade related institutions, businessunions, and other international partners);*To examine, in consultations with the OIC General Secretariat, the possibility of revising the targets of the TenYear Plan of Action by the upcoming OIC Summit. �

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DIPLOMACY

Visit of H.E. Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladeshaccredited to Rabat to ICDT's headquarters

Dr. El Hassane HZAINE, Acting Director General of the Islamic Centre forDevelopment of Trade (ICDT) received on 22nd August 2011 at the headquarters ofthe Centre H.E. Mr. Nur MOHAMMAD, Ambassador of the Peopleʼs Republic ofBangladesh accredited to Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco.After the presentation of ICDTʼs activities by Dr. HZAINE, both parties took stock of the cooperation between ICDT and thePeopleʼs Republic of Bangladesh and expressed their satisfaction about the active participation of this country in the acti-vities organized by the Centre.H.E the Ambassador emphasized the importance of developing close relations between the OIC Institutions, ICDT in par-ticular, and its country for the benefit of the Muslim Community.In this regard, Dr. HZAINE kindly requested H.E Mr. Nur MOHAMMAD to incite the concerned departments of the PeopleʼsRepublic of Bangladesh to participate in the activities to be organised by the Centre notably the 1st Cotton and TextilesExhibition to be held from 21st to 25th September 2011 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Through this fruitful meeting, Dr.HZAINE kindly requested H.E the Ambassador to convey his thanks to the Government of the Peopleʼs Republic ofBangladesh for the support it has always extended to ICDT. �

Visit of H.E. Ambassador of the IslamicRepublic of Pakistan accredited toRabat to ICDT's headquartersCasablanca, November 3rd, 2011

Dr. El Hassane HZAINE, Acting Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), received on 3rdNovember 2011 at the headquarters of the Centre H.E. Mrs. TASNIM ASLAM, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic ofPakistan accredited to Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco. After the presentation of ICDTʼs activities by Dr. HZAINE, both partiestook stock of the cooperation between ICDT and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and expressed their satisfaction aboutthe active participation of this country in the activities organised by the Centre. H.E the Ambassador emphasized theimportance of developing close relations between the OIC Institutions, ICDT in particular and its country for the benefit ofthe Muslim Community. In this regard, Dr. HZAINE kindly requested H.E Mrs TASNIM ASLAM to incite the concerneddepartments of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to participate in the activities to be organised by the Centre notably, theIstanbul Conference on Competition Policies and Law (Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on November 21st -22nd, 2011), the1st OIC Central Business Forum (Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan, November 22nd - 23rd 2011), the 1st OIC HealthExpo (Tunis, Republic of Tunisia, March 1st - 4th, 2011) and the 5th Exhibition of Agri-Business Industries in the OICMember States which is to take place in the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from May20th to 23rd, 2012, concomitantly with the 17th Food/ Hotel/PROPAC Arabia. Dr. HZAINE also seized the opportunity ofthis encounter to underline the importance of ratifying the Rules of Origin of the TPS-OIC by the Islamic Republic ofPakistan in order to enhance the Intra-OIC Trade of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Through this fruitful meeting, Dr.HZAINE kindly requested H.E the Ambassador to convey his thanks to the Government of the Islamic Republic ofPakistan for the support it has always extended to ICDT. �

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The 1st OIC Central Asia Business ForumAstana - Republic of Kazakhstan, November 22th – 23th, 2011

Commodity TradeTRADE PROMOTION

Within the framework of the implementation ofthe resolutions of the 3rd Extraordinary IslamicSummit Conference of Makkah Al Mukarramahheld in December 2005 and the 38th session ofthe OIC Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers heldin Astana in June 2011, which adopted respec-tively the OIC Ten Year Programme of Action andthe Special Programme for Central Asia, theIslamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT),the National Export & Investment Agency ofKazakhstan “KAZNEX INVEST” and theInternational Islamic Trade Finance Corporation(ITFC, member of the Islamic Development BankGroup), organised under the auspices of theMinistry of Industry and New Technology (MINT)of the Republic of Kazakhstan, “The 1st OIC andCentral Asia Business Forum” in Astana, onNovember 22nd - 23rd, 2011.The main goal of this forum was, on the onehand, to sensitise the economic operators topotential and real trade opportunities between thetwo regions and to inform participants about thedifferent services and products offered to thebusiness circles by the regional and internationalinstitutions, on the other.

This Forum was attended bythe Representatives of twelveOIC Member States, namely:Azerbaijan, Gabon, Kazakh-stan, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya,Pakistan, Palestine, Malaysia,Tajikistan, Tunisia and Turkey.The Business Forum was alsoattended by the OIC Institu-tions, Regional andInternational Organisationssuch as the League of ArabStates, the EconomicCooperation Organisation(ECO) and the World IslamicEconomic Forum (WIEF).The Republic of Kazakhstanwas highly represented at thisForum through its numerousAgencies, Institutions and morethan seventy companies fromthe Private Sector.The OIC General Secretariatand the Islamic Centre forDevelopment of Trade wererepresented at this Forum byDr. El Hassane HZAINE, ActingDirector General of ICDT, whodelivered a keynote speech dur-ing the Opening Ceremony onbehalf of the OIC GeneralSecretariat and underlined theimportance of holding this eventin Astana. He informed partici-pants that according to the mar-ket study carried out by ICDTon the assessment of the cur-rent trade exchanges and theprospects of trade and invest-ment, the trade opportunitiesbetween the Central Asia OICCountries and the rest of theOIC Member States are end-less and very promising. In thisrespect, he indicated that theintra-Central Asia trade

accounts for 4% in the worldtrade and that the intra-OICtrade of Central Asia MemberStates reached a share of 15%in 2010, but the intra-OIC traderate potential can exceed 30%,which means that there is a realtrade potential of about US$ 30billion while currently it amountsto only US$ 12 billion.Nevertheless, to build on suchpossibilities, Dr. HZAINE under-lined the importance of eliminat-ing the various obstacles thatare hampering trade flows andpartnership development, par-ticularly: non-tariff barriers,financing, foreign trade insur-ance, transport and inadequateservices in the fields of tradeand investment.At the end of this Forum, partic-ipants made the following rec-ommendations:*To call upon Central Asia andother Member States to signand ratify agreements andProtocols, notably TPS-OIC,PRETAS, Rules of Origin,SMIIC, Halal Standards andCertification in order to enhanceintra-OIC Trade and the IDBGroup Agreements;*To participate in the trade fairsand exhibitions organised byICDT and those hosted in theCountries of Central Asia;*To call on Central AsianMember States to becomeICIEC Members so as to con-tribute to attracting foreigninvestors to these countries;*To organise buyers/sellersmeetings and implement capac-ity building and trade supportprojects in the Member

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Countries of Central Asia ;*To exchange trade and investmentdata between the Countries ofCentral Asia and the OICʼs throughthe ICDTʼs Web site: (www.icdt-oic.org) so as to promote intra-OICTrade;*To enhance technical co-operationand the sharing of experiencesbetween the Countries of Central Asiaand some advanced OIC Countries(Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran,UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco,Tunisia.....) in the field of trade devel-opment;*To encourage bilateral trade missionsbetween the countries of Central Asiaand the OICʼs in order to enhanceintra-OIC Trade;

*To prepare a master plan for thetransport corridors in the countries ofCentral Asia, including the identifica-tion of the obstacles to the existingtransport corridors and to connect thelandlocked countries to the OICMember States through a transportnetwork in collaboration with the inter-national agencies operating in thisarea.

Activities held on the sidelines ofthe 1st OIC-Central Asia BusinessForumNovember 22nd, 2011ICDT and KAZNEX INVEST organiseda B2B Meeting for the benefit of par-ticipants. On the second day, Kaza-khstanʼs companies met, at their

headquarters, with foreign partici-pants in order to study co-operationand trade possibilities to enhanceintra-OIC Trade. In this regard, ICDTand KAZNEX INVEST discussed themeans and ways to enhance their co-operation in the future. ICDT proposedto KAZNEX INVEST to make a trademission in Morocco and expressed itsreadiness to facilitate contacts withMoroccan private and public sectorsand other North and West AfricanCountries. �

8


KAZAKHSTAN

WELCOMESYOU

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9Tijaris 122-123 - December 2011


OIC-CHINA EXPO 2013Yinchuan - China

September 11th-15th, 2013

The Islamic Centre for Development and Trade (ICDT) and the AutonomousRegion of the Peopleʼs Republic of China “NINGXIA HUI” will jointly organise

in Yinchuan the OIC-CHINA EXPOfrom September 11th-15th, 2013.Within the framework of the prepara-tions for this exhibition, ICDT held afirst working meeting with Mr. HarrisHiu, Deputy Director General of theBureau of Fairs and Exhibitions of theAutonomous Region of the People’sRepublic of China “NINGXIA HUI”, on the occasion of the 13th Trade Fair of theOIC Member States organised by ICDT in Sharjah (UAE) from 24th to 29th April2011. Besides, a delegation from the Autonomous province of Ningxia HUI led byMr. Wang Wei Zheng, Governor of the province of Ningxia paid a courtesy and

working visit to ICDTʼs headquarters on May 23rd, 2011.A second coordination meeting was held in Ningxia on December 7th - 8th, 2011 between Dr. El Hassane HZAINE,Director General of ICDT, and the Chinese party. On this occasion, both parties signed a Memorandum of Understandingfor the organisation of this exhibition �

The 14th OIC - EXPO 2013Islamic Republic of Iran

In implementation of the resolu-tion n°1/6/iii/2 adopted by the 24thSession of the Standing Commit-tee for Economic and CommercialCooperation of the OIC (COM-CEC) held in Istanbul in October2008, which welcomed the offer ofthe Islamic Republic of Iran tohost the Trade Fair of the OICMember States in 2013, theIslamic Centre for Developmentof Trade (ICDT) will organise,under the auspices of the Ministryof Commerce of the Islamic Re-public of Iran, the 14th OIC-EXPOin Tehran, in 2013.This fair, which will enable OIC

In order to ensure the successof this Fair, ICDT and theMinister of Commerce of theIslamic Republic of Iran willundertake the necessary stepsfor:- The signature of a Memoran-dum of Understanding (MOU)with the relevant Iranian autho-rity that will co-organise thisevent with ICDT ;- The holding of co-ordinationmeetings to follow-up the or-ganisation of this fair. �

Member States to display their products andservices, will also be a platform meeting for busi-nessmen, Trade Promotion Organs and profes-sional associations in the Islamic World.

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The Exhibition lasted five days and wasopen to the General public and to busi-nessmen from 09.00 to 21.00. This firstedition of cotton and textiles of the OICMember States recorded the participa-tion of the following OIC MemberStates: Republic of Benin, BurkinaFaso, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republicof Cameroon, Republic of Chad,Republic of Mali, Islamic Republic ofMauritania, Kingdom of Morocco,Republic of Niger, Republic of Senegal,Syrian Arab Republic, Republic ofTajikistan, Republic of Togo, Republicof Tunisia and Republic of Turkey.ICDT was represented at the Exhibitionby Dr. El Hassane HZAINE, ActingDirector General, Mr. Houcine RAH-MOUNI, Advisor to the DirectorGeneral and Mr. Amadou Ciré Sall, Incharge of the Trade InformationSystem. The Islamic DevelopmentBank Group was represented by Mr.Othman ELFIEL, while the Organisa-tion of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) wasrepresented by H.E. AmbassadorNabika Diallo, Advisor to H.E theSecretary General and H.E SheikhOmar T. Sow, Director General ofEconomic Affairs.

. Opening Ceremony:The opening ceremony of the exhibi-tion was held on 21st September 2011at 16.00 at the Grounds of the Inter-national Handicrafts Exhibition ofOuagadougou (SIAO) and was chairedby H.E Mr. Arthur KAFANDO, Ministerof Industry, Commerce and

Handicrafts, Minister of Agriculture,Hydraulics and Fisheries and Ministerof Environment and SustainableDevelopment of Burkina Faso in thepresence of the Representatives of theOIC General Secretariat, the IslamicDevelopment Bank Group and Mr.Justin B. Bayili, Director General of theNational Foreign Trade Office ofBurkina Faso (ONAC), Dr. El HassaneHZAINE, ICDTʼs Acting Director Gene-ral, the Ambassadors of the OICCountries accredited to Ouagadougouand the Heads of Delegations of theparticipating States in this Exhibition.The opening ceremony of the exhibi-tion was marked by cultural events atthe SIAO entrance. After the openingspeeches, H.E. Mr. Arthur KAFANDOcut the ribbon announcing the officialopening of the Exhibition and then vi-sited the different stands of theExhibition.It should be noted that the opening cer-emony of the exhibition was widelycovered by television channels, news-papers and other media organs inBurkina Faso.

Activities on the sidelines of theExhibitionOn the sidelines of the exhibition, thefollowing thematic conferences andOIC institutional meetings took place:* Fourth Meeting of the ProjectCommittee and the Fifth Meeting of theSteering Committee for the implemen-tation of the OIC Plan of Action forCotton (22nd September 2011);

* Seminar on the Development of thecotton and textiles sector in the OICMember States (morning of 23rdSeptember 2011);The presentations of experts at theSeminar on the Development of thecotton and textiles sector in the OICMember States focused on the follow-ing topics:- Present State of Intra-OIC Cotton andDevelopmental Prospects by Mr.Amadou Ciré Sall (ICDT);- State of the development of cottonand textiles industry in the WAEMU byMr. Balla DIONG- Overview of the evolution of the Mo-roccan textile industry, by Mr.Mohamed Tazi, Director General of theMoroccan Association of Textiles andClothing industries (AMITH);- Financing of Trade in AgriculturalProducts: the case of cotton, by Mr.

The 1st OIC Cotton and Textiles ExhibitionOuagadougou, Burkina Faso21st - 25th September 2011

Within the framework of the Plan of Action of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) dedicated to thecotton sector to promote production and improve competitiveness of the cotton and textiles industry, theIslamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), the Islamic Development Bank Group, the International IslamicTrade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and the National Foreign Trade Office (ONAC) of Burkina Faso organisedunder the auspices of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts of Burkina Faso, the first Cotton andTextiles Exhibition in the OIC Member States, from 21st to 25th September 2011 at the Exhibition Grounds of theInternational Handicrafts Exhibition of Ouagadougou (SIAO) - Burkina Faso. This first exhibition took placeunder the theme: "Cotton-textiles, Growth Factor of the Economies of the OIC Member States".

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Trade in ServicesTRADE PROMOTION

Abdoulaye Nabol, Director General ofFILSAH (Sahel Spinning).- Cotton sector in West Africa: currentsituation and prospects by Mr. SaidELAARBAOUI.This seminar was attended by 150 per-sons and B2B meetings were also heldbetween the businessmen operating inthe sector.

Distribution of participationcertificates:The closing ceremony of the exhibitionwas held at the Grounds of theInternational Handicrafts Exhibition ofOuagadougou (SIAO) on 24th Septem-ber, 2011 at 16:00 during which partici-pation certificates were delivered to

participating Member States. Thesecertificates were distributed to theHeads of Stands of participating coun-tries, during a special ceremony.

Evaluation of the Exhibition:This exhibition was attended by 200businessmen and 1000 visitors. A sur-vey at the level of participants dis-closed a general satisfaction at theorganisation of the exhibition, the provi-sion by organisers of all facilities, theservices offered which met internation-al standards.Exhibitors expressed the wish to bene-fit from the services provided by theCentre and to promote their productsand services through ICDTʼs Virtual

Exhibition.Participants highly appreciated theholding of the Fourth Meeting of theProject Committee and the 5th Meetingof the Steering Committee for theimplementation of the OIC Plan ofAction for Cotton and the Seminar onthe Development of the cotton and tex-tiles Sector in Member States concomi-tantly with the exhibition. It was a goodopportunity for businessmen to estab-lish cooperation and exchange relation-ships with the OIC officials of the cottonsector as well as with the OIC Institu-tions. �

Forum and Specialised Exhibition on the Services of HigherEducation in the OIC Member StatesGirne, Turkish Republic of Northern CyprusNovember 28th - December 1st, 2011

In implementation of resolution n°3/11-P (IS) adopted at the 11th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference held onMarch 13th and 14th, 2008 in Dakar, Republic of Senegal, the OIC General Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairsof the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus organised in collaboration with the Islamic Bank Development Group (IDB),the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and the Islamic Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), the “Forum and SpecialisedExhibition on Higher Education Services in the OIC Member States” fromNovember 28h to December 1st, 2011 in Girne, Turkish Republic of NorthernCyprus.The main objectives of this Forum and Exhibition were:- to ensure the promotion of Higher Education Services in the Member States ofthe Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in general, and those of theTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in particular,- to establish direct contacts between the stake-holders in the fields of training and education,- to encourage investment in this sector and develop partnerships between the Universities in the OIC Member States,notably through the exchange of students and trainers.The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade was represented at this Forum and Exhibition by Dr. El Hassane HZAINE,Director General, who chaired the “Session IV: Promoting partnership and collaboration in higher education in the MuslimWorld” and delivered a lecture on “Trade in higher education services in OIC Member States: Current situation andChallenges”. �

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Focus will be put, here, on the 6thand 7th coordination meetings:- The Six coordination meeting:ICDT hosted on October 13th-14th,2011, at ICDTʼs headquarters inCasablanca, the 6th co-ordinationmeeting for the organisation of thisevent with the Director General ofthe “Société des foires interna-tionales” of Tunis to examine thestatus of preparations and the pro-motional campaign of the event.After fruitful discussions, both theActing Director General of ICDT, Dr.El Hassane HZAINE, and theChairman of the “Société des foiresinternationales” of Tunis, Mr. NéjibBen Miled, agreed to organise aseminar under the theme: "Thedevelopment of trade and partner-ship in the pharmaceutical and med-ical sectors in theOIC MemberStates" and a buyer-seller meeting(B2B) on the sidelines of the 1st OICHeath Expo. Successful nationalexperiences in promoting the healthsector of some OIC Countries willbe presented at the seminar.- The 7th coordination meeting: itwas held on November 15th-16th2011, between ICDT and the Tuni-sian party represented by H.E. theMinister of Health of the Republic ofTunisia, the Representative of theMinistry of Trade and Tourism of theRepublic of Tunisia and the Chair-man of the “Société des foires inter-nationales” of Tunis, Mr. Néjib BenMiled, in order to follow-up the dis-cussions of the organisational as-pects of this Exhibition. �


Trade in ServicesTRADE PROMOTION

1st OIC HEALTH EXPOTunis, March 1st-4th, 2012

Within the framework of co-operationbetween the Islamic Centre for Develop-ment of Trade (ICDT) and the Republic ofTunisia, with a view to achieving the objec-tives set by the OIC Ten Year Programmeof Action, adopted by the OIC Third Extra-ordinary Summit Conference held inMakkah Al Mukarramah in December 2005,particularly, the objective of raising theintra-OIC trade share in the global trade ofOIC Member States to 20% by the 2015;the Islamic Centre for Development ofTrade (ICDT) and the “Société des FoiresInternationales” of Tunis will organise underthe auspices of the Ministry of Commerceand Public Health of the Republic ofTunisia, the 1st Health Expo in the MemberStates of the Organisation of IslamicCooperation (1st OIC HEALTH EXPO) fromMarch 1st to 4th, 2012 in the Exhibitiongrounds and International Trade Centre ofTunis.

This Exhibition will constitute a platform that will gather all the actors of thehealth sectors (pharmaceutical industry, services providers, nutrition pro-fessionals, dietetics, surgery, wellness cares in the OIC Countries seekingbusiness opportunities).

The objectives of this exhibitionare to:* Allow the actors of the healthwellness care sector to promotetheir products and services, throu-gh a professional exhibition;* To enable decision-makers andexperts to exchange their experi-ences on the problematic of publichealth;* To develop partnership andstrategic alliances between theactors of the health sector in theOIC Member States;* To establish a meeting platformbetween the professional of thesector;* To develop intra-OIC investmentsin this field;* To facilitate the access to innova-tive products and know-how for theactors in the fields of new medicaltechniques and processes;* To generate “business” contactsand put the industrialists and theservices providers in touch with thewhole actors of the health sector.Therefore, it will be an excellentopportunity for the enterprises andthe actors of the sector to promotetheir products and services, notonly in the market of the NorthAfrican region, but also at the levelof other OIC Member Countries,which represent a market number-ing more than 1,5 billion con-sumers.ICDT has so far held seven co-ordination meetings with theTunisian party within the frame-work of the preparations for thisexhibition.

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TRADE PROMOTION

SENEGAL20TH FIDAKDakar International Trade FairDate: December 1st - 12th, 2011Theme: “ Issue of transport in theECOWAS region: challenges for asustainable regional integration"Venue: Parc des Expositions duCentre international d'Echanges deDakar (CIED)Organiser: Centre International duCommerce Extérieur du Sénégal(CICES)BP: 8166 Dakar-Yoff SENEGALTél : (+221) 33 827 25 30 / (+221) 33827 34 65 / (+221) 33 827 54 14Fax : (+221) 33 827 52 75 / (+221) 33827 52 78E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

Calendar of Trade Fairs & Exhibitionsof the OIC CountriesJanuary-February 2012

UAE

UZBEKISTAN

turing sectorsDate: Jan. 09 - 12, 2012Venue: Expo Centre Sharjah -Emirats Arabes UnisTel: +971 6-5770000Fax: +971 6-5770111E-mail: [email protected]: Expo Centre SharjahP.O. Box: 3222Sharjah - United Arab EmiratesTel: +971 6-5770000Fax: +971 6-5770111E-mail: [email protected]

OFFSHORE ARABIARegional Conference & Exhibition onOffshore/ Coastal ProtectionDate: Feb. 27 - 29, 2012Venue: Dubai International ExhibitionCentreSheik Zayed RoadConvention GateDubai - United Arab EmiratesTel: +971-4-3321000Fax: +971-4-3312173E-mail: [email protected]: Index (Conferences andExhibitions Organisation Est)P.O.Box 13636Dubai - United Arab EmiratesTel: +971 4 3624717Fax: +971 4 3624718E-mail: [email protected]

MIJF - MALAYSIA INTERNATIONALJEWELLERY FAIRMalaysia International Jewelry FairDate: Jan. 06 - 09, 2012Venue: Kuala Lumpur ConventionCentre (KLCC)Kuala Lumpur City Centre50088 Kuala Lumpur - MalaysiaTel: +60 3 2333 2888Fax: +60 3 2333 2800

STEELFABSpecialized trade fair for completeindustrial, technology and manufac-

E-mail:[email protected]: Elite Expo Sdn Bhd4-3, Jalan Radin Anum 1,57000 Sri Petaling,Kuala Lumpur - MalaysiaTel: +603 9058 8772Fax: +603 9058 8773E-mail: [email protected]

MOTHERHOOD EXPOExhibition focused on maternity, infantand toddler and growing young familymarketsDate: Feb. 24 - 26, 2012Venue: Kuala Lumpur ConventionCentre (KLCC)Kuala Lumpur City Centre50088 Kuala Lumpur - MalaysiaTel: +60 3 2333 2888Fax: +60 3 2333 2800E-mail:[email protected]: HareNet CommunicationsB-9-7, (Level 11) - Block BMenara Uncang Emas, 85Jalan Loke Yew55200 Kuala Lumpur - MalaysiaTel: +603-9200 3888Fax: +603-9200 4888E-mail: [email protected]

UZBUILDInternational Building & ConstructionExhibition. Interiors, Heat and VentDate: Feb. 28 - March 02, 2012Venue: UzexpocentreTashkent, 700084107, Amir Temur street - UzbekistanTel: +998 71 1344545Fax: +998 71 1345440Organiser: ITE Uzbekistan20, Oybek Str., 3rd floorTashkent, 100015 - Uzbekistan

MALAYSIA

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TRADE PROMOTION

Tel: +998 71 113 01 80Fax: +998 71 252 51 64E-mail: [email protected]

The 1st International GeneralTrading, Construction andInvestments Babylon Fair

A fair at the Central Euphratesprovinces will be held under the aus-pices of Prime Minister Mr. Nouri Al-Maliki, under the supervision of theMinistry of Trade / State Company forTrade and trade services of Iraq andthe support of Office of the provinceof Babylon and the government andwith support of local investment agen-cies and chambers of commerce andindustry associations in the provincesof the Middle Euphrate.Date: Feb. 23, 2012Venue: the land management of theInternational Fairs of Babylonmob : 07709796190 - 07706202136 -07811492935website: www.alsorouh-iq.comE-mail : [email protected]

The 1st International Conferenceon Halal Food Control & ExhibitionDate: February 12 - 15, 2012 inVenue: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The objective of the exhibition is toprovide interested participants withthe latest developments in the field of

Halal Food. Exhibitors from publicand private sectors, as well as inter-national organisations are expectedto take part, representing differentfood factories and companiesinvolved in food analysis and equip-ment. In addition, organisations con-cerned with Halal Food at nationaland international levels are expectedto participate.Why Participate at Halal FoodExhibition?· It is the first Halal food exhibition inSaudi Arabia.· The conference will bring togetherresearchers and interested represen-tatives of various research, controland statutory bodies from all aroundthe world, especially the Islamicworld.· It is an opportunity to gather Halalfood industry, especially red andwhite meat and related technology.

· It will allow you:- to meet large Saudi and internation-al companies and make deals, part-

nerships and franchises in Halal food.- to enter the Saudi market, which isconsidered the largest market in theworld for Halal food due to its reli-gious importance in the Muslimworld.- to promote your brand in a marketwith 27 million people.- to get to know the latest develop-ments, trends and technologies in theHalal food industry.· It will provide a wide media cover-age before, during and after the exhi-bition.For more information , You can visitour web site: www.halalfood.sa

MEDICAL EXPOInternational Exhibition of HealthCareDate: Jan. 12 - 15, 2012

SIEL CASABLANCAInternational Exhibition of Publishingand BookDate: Feb. 10 - 19, 2012

Venue: Office des Foires etExpositions de Casablanca (OFEC)Rue Tiznit, Face à la MosquéeHassan IICasablanca - 20000 - MoroccoTel: +212 5 22.20.06.54Fax: +212.5 22.26 49 49E-mail: [email protected]: OFEC (Office des Foireset Expositions de Casablanca) -Rue Tiznit, Face à la MosquéeHassan II - 20000 CasablancaMoroccoTel: +212 22 20 06 54Fax: +212 22 26 49 49E-mail: [email protected] �

IRAQ

MOROCCO

SAUDI ARABIA

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2nd OIC TOURISM EXPO 2012Cairo, Arab Republic of EgyptDecember 20th-23rd, 2012

T

TOURISM PROMOTION

TURKEY23rd InternationalHospitality IndustryEquipments & DecorationExhibition- Date: January 18 - 21,2012- Venue: Antalya ExpoCentrePinarli Beldesi 07110 AksuAntalya - Turkey- Organiser: Anfaş HotelEquipmentTel: +90.242 462 20 00Fax: +90.242 462 19 90E-mail: [email protected]

EMITT ISTANBULEastern MediterraneanInternational Travel &Tourism Exhibition

- Date: February 9-12, 2012- Venue: Tüyap FairConvention and CongressCenter - Istanbul, Turkey- Organiser: Ekin IstanbulHalaskargazi Cad. ZaferSk. -N°:12 34371Harbiye/Istanbul - TurkeyTel :+90 (212) 886 68 43Fax :+90 (212) 886 62 43Website: www.tuizmtedarik-cileri.com

INDONESIAATF 2012 - Asean TourismForum- Date: Jan. 8-15, 2012- Venue: Antalya ExpoCentreManado, Indonesiawww.atfindonesia.com

- Organiser: ASEANTourism Forum

IRANHT&T 5th Iran Hotel,Travel & TourismInternational Exhibition- Date: February 7-10, 2012- Venue: Iran Tehran Int'lPermanent FairgroundApt. #6, No.1, Alizadeh St.,Bahar St., Sadr Highway- Organiser: TITEX (TehranInternational Trading &Exhibition Corporation)Tehran, Islamic Republic ofIranTel :+98 21 222 47 479

222 47 481Fax : +98 21 222 47 480

MOROCCOMOROCCAN TRAVELMARKETInternational TourismExhibition in Marrakech- Date: Jan. 2012- Venue: Aéroport interna-tional de MarrakechMenara - MoroccoTel: +212 05 24 44 79 10Fax: +212 05 24 44 92 19Website: www.mtm.ma- Organiser: InternationalFairs & Events - Maroc209, boulevard d'AnfaCasablanca - Maroc �

Calendar of Tourism Fairs & Exhibitions of the OIC CountriesJanuary-February 2012

he Islamic Centre for Development of Trade and the EgyptExpo and Convention Authority (EECA) will organise, underthe auspices of the Tourism Ministry of the Arab Republic ofEgypt, the Second edition of the Tourism Fair of the MemberStates of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo fromDecember 20th to 23rd, 2012 .The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and theEgyptian EXPO and Convention Authority (EECA) have held,so far, 5 coordination meetings for the organisation of thisimportant event. �

For more information, visit the organisers' websites:ICDT: www.icdt-oic.org and EECA: www.cairofair.com - www.goief.gov.eg

DDeecceemmbbeerr 2200--2233,, 22001122

2n

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FORUMS & CONFERENCES

Seminar on Logistics and Transportation and their Role in TradePromotion between the OIC Member States Republic of Tunisia, Tunis, November 14th-17th, 2011

The Islamic Centre Development of Trade (ICDT) and the Ministry of Trade and Tourism of the Republic of Tunisia jointy organised in Tunis, from November 14th to 17th, 2011, a seminar on logistics and transportation and their role in tradepromotion between the Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in co-operation with the IslamicResearch and Training Institute (IRTI), Member of the Islamic Development Bank Group.

Eleven Member States participated in the seminar, namely, Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Republic of Cameroon,Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Mali, Kingdom of Morocco, Islamic Republic of Mauritania,Republic of Niger, Republic of Togo and Republic of Tunisia. 50 Tunisian public and private companies also attended theseminar. The training sessions were animated by international, national and ICDTʼs experts. �

Islamic Centre forDevelopment of Trade

Ministry of Trade andTourism of the Republic

of Tunisa

Islamic Institute ofResearch and Training

The Istanbul Conference on Needs Assessment of the OIC MemberStates in the field of Competition Law and Policy

Istanbul, Turkey - November 21st – 22nd, 2011

The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) and theIslamic Development Bank Group (IDB) jointly organised the “Istanbul Conference on needs assess-ment of the OIC Member States in the field of Competition law and policy” in Istanbul, Republic ofTurkey, on November 21st - 22nd, 2011.

28 OIC Member States attended this Conference, namely, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Benin, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar,Senegal, Sierra Leone, State of Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen), and 4 OIC ObserverStates, notably, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russian Federation, Turkish Cypriot State and Kosovo, as well as OIC Institutionsas: ICDT, COMCEC Coordination Office, IDB and SESRIC.This Conference aimed at serving as a “needs assessment” platform for the realisation of the project entitled “Technicalassistance in the field of competition law and policy among the OIC Member States”.

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FORUMS & CONFERENCES

The Istanbul Conference started by the opening address-es made by: Prof. Dr. Nurettin KALDIRIMCI, thePresident of the Turkish Competition Authority, Dr. ElHassane HZAINE, Acting Director General of the IslamicCentre for Development of Trade, the Representative ofthe Islamic Development Bank Group, Mr. Abdullateef Al-LAWATI and the Minister of Customs and Trade, HisExcellency, Mr. Hayati YAZICI.The Opening Ceremony was followed by the presentationof introductory remarks regarding Competition Law and

Policy in OIC Member States and the Speakersʼ keynotespeeches. On this occasion, ICDTʼs Acting DirectorGeneral, Dr. HZAINE, made a presentation under thetheme “Overview of Competition Law and Policy in OICMember States”.The presentation was followed by the holding of theSession on “Needs Assessment” during which OICMember States seized this opportunity to make variousstatements concerning the application of competition rules,establishment of competition authorities and advocacy andshared their views in terms of ways and means to co-oper-ate efficiently and effectively in order to overcome theproblems/challenges encountered by OIC Member States.The 2nd Session entitled “Wrap-up Panel – The way for-ward” was essentially devoted to find the most effectiveways to address the needs of the OIC Member States andidentify the most appropriate technical assistance to beextended to them.At the end of this Conference, participants:- Affirmed the fundamental role of competition law and pol-icy for sound economic development and recommendedthe continuation of the work initiated by the TurkishCompetition Authority;- Highlighted the importance of awareness of the benefitsof competition among the OIC Member States;- Appreciated the work carried out by the TurkishCompetition Authority to further the Technical AssistanceProject;- Highlighted the importance of the establishment of aForum for the OIC Member States with the aim of encour-aging experience shared among the competition agenciesand/or bodies responsible for the enforcement of competi-tion law and policy and requested the Turkish CompetitionAuthority to study the modalities and details of this Forumin co-operation with the COMCEC Coordination Office. �

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The Renewable Energy

is part of the targets of the Millennium for Morocco

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SPECIAL COUNTRY

KINGDOM OF MOROCCO

His Majesty the King,Mohammed VI,King of Morocco

SPECIAL ISSUE

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GENERAL BACKGROUNDo Official name: Kingdom ofMorocco.o Geography: Morocco islocated at the north-west ofAfrica. It is bordered in thenorth by the strait of Gibraltarand the Mediterranean sea; tothe south by Mauritania; to theeast by Algeria and to the westby the Atlantic Ocean. TheMoroccan coast extends over3,500 km. The Atlas Moun-tains are located mainly in thecenter and the south of thecountry. The Rif Mountains arelocated in the north of thecountry.o Population: 32.3 millioninhabitants.o Climate: The dominant cli-mate in Morocco is Mediter-ranean. It is temperate in thewest and the north owing tothe Atlantic Ocean. Inside, theclimate is continental with sig-nificant differences in tempera-ture. The area of the Atlas iswet, snow is common. Thesouth has a desert climate. Inthe interior, the climate varieswith altitude. Summers are hotand dry. Winters are cold andrainy with frequent frost andsnow. The pre-Saharan andSaharan Morocco has a drydesert climate.o Administrative Capital:Rabat.

o Economic Capital: Casa-blanca.o Main Cities: Marrakech,Fez, Agadir, Meknes, Tan-giers, Oujda, Dakhla andLaayoune.

o Regions: The local authori-ties of the Kingdom are theregions, prefectures, provin-ces and municipalities. On theoccasion of the change of theConstitution in 2011, the reportof the Advisory Committee onRegionalisation proposed thedivision of the Kingdom into 12regions instead of the current16 regions. In local authoritiesand regions Walis andGovernors of provinces andprefectures represent the cen-tral Government. On behalf ofthe Government, they providelaw enforcement, implementregulations and governmentdecisions and exercise admin-istrative control. o Official languages: Arabicremains the official languageof the State. Similarly, theAmazigh language is an offi-cial language of the Statewhich works to preserve theHassani language, as part ofthe Moroccan cultural unitedidentity. French is taught uni-versally and still serves asMorocco's primary languageof commerce and economics.It is also widely used in educa-tion and Government. TheSpanish language is spokenin northern Morocco and in thesouth (Sahara) of Morocco.English, while still far behindFrench and Spanish in termsof number of speakers, is rap-idly becoming the foreign lan-guage of choice among edu-cated youth. English is taughtin all public and privateschools.o Religion:

Islam is the religion of theState. The King, Commanderof the Faithful, ensures respectfor Islam. He is the guarantorof freedom of worship. Hechairs the Higher Council ofUlema o Public holidays:- The following Religious holi-days are observed in Moroc-co: Moharram 1st, Eid ElMawlid: Eid El Fitr and Eid ElAdha.- The National holidays are:January 1st (New Year), Ja-nuary 11th (Manifesto of In-dependence Day), July 30th:Throne Day, August 14th(Commemoration of Oued Ed-dahab), August 20: Revolutionof the King and the People,August 21: Youth Day (HisMajesty King Mohammed VIBirthday), November 6: (Com-memoration of the GreenMarch) and November 18:Independence Day. o Currency: Dirham (Dh) isthe Moroccan currency. US $1= 8.386 Dh.o Local Time: GMT (GMT + 1in summer).

THE MONARCHY o Morocco is a constitutionalmonarchy, democratic, parlia-

mentary and social. TheKingdom of Morocco is one ofthe oldest monarchies in theworld. Founded 14 centuriesago, this institution is the guar-antor of the country's unity andthe citizens' freedom. Moroccohas remained strongly com-

mitted to its traditional founda-tions while at the same time ithas engaged in modernity.o The King:His Majesty the King,Mohammed VI, is the Head ofState and its supreme repre-sentative. His Majesty is thesymbol of the unity of thenation, the guarantor of theperpetuation and continuity ofthe State and the SupremeArbiter between institutions.HM the King ensures compli-ance with the Constitution, theright functioning of constitu-tional institutions, the protec-tion of democratic choice andthe rights and freedoms of citi-zens and communities, and incompliance with internationalcommitments of the Kingdom.He is the guarantor of the in-dependence of the Kingdomand its territorial integrity withinits authentic borders.HM the King is the SupremeCommander of the RoyalArmed Forces. HM the Kingalso chairs the Higher Councilof Security. o Government Structure:The constitutional system ofthe Kingdom is based on theseparation, the balance andcollaboration of powers, aswell as on democracy and citi-zen participation, the principlesof good governance and thecorrelation between responsi-bility and accountability.Sovereignty belongs to thenation that is exercised direct-ly through referendums andindirectly through its represen-tatives. The nation chooses itsrepresentatives in electedinstitutions through free, sin-cere and regular votes.o The Executive power: TheGovernment exercises theexecutive power. Under theauthority of the Head ofGovernment, the Governmentimplements the Government

20

Hassan II Mosque

SPECIAL COUNTRY: KINGDOM OF MOROCCO SPECIAL ISSUE

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program, ensures the enforce-ment of the Law as well as theadministration. It oversees theactivities of companies andpublic institutions.HM the King appoints theHead of Government withinthe party ranking first andahead of elections of themembers of the House ofRepresentatives. On the pro-posal of the Head of Govern-ment, HM the King appointsthe Government Members.o The Council of Ministers: Itis composed of the Head ofGovernment and Ministers.o The legislative power: TheParliament exercises legisla-tive power. It passes laws,monitors government actionand evaluates public policies.The Parliament has two cham-bers, the House of Represen-tatives and the House ofCounsellors. Their membershold their mandate from theNation. Members of the Houseof Representatives are electedfor five years by direct univer-sal suffrage, while the mem-bers of the House of Counsel-lors are elected by indirect uni-versal suffrage for six years.o The Judicial power: Thejudiciary is independent of thelegislature and the executive.HM the King is the guarantorof the independence of thejudiciary. The Supreme Coun-cil of the Judiciary, which isheaded by HM the King, en-forces the guarantees grantedto judges, particularly withrespect to their independence,their appointment, advance-ment, their retirement and theirdiscipline.The Constitutional Court iscomposed of twelve membersappointed for a term of nine-year term. The President ofthe Constitutional Court isappointed by HM the Kingfrom among the members

composing the Court.o Economic, Social and en-vironmental Council: ThisCouncil may be consulted bythe Government, the House ofRepresentatives and the Hou-se of Counsellors on all mat-ters of economic, social orenvironmental nature. It givesits opinion on the generalguidelines of the national eco-nomy and sustainable devel-opment.

FOREIGN POLICYThe achievements of the King-dom are beyond its borders.Indeed, the regional and inter-national presence of theCountry has been affirmedsince the early years of inde-pendence. Its role is importantin the Arab, African and Islamicworlds. Morocco is among thefounders of the non-alignedmovement, the Organisationof African Unity and the Orga-nisation of Islamic Coopera-tion. Morocco has also beencontinuously present on theinternational scene, as evi-denced by its adherence to themajor agreements and actionwithin the United Nations.Moroco made of its commer-cial and economic opennessabroad a strategic option andwas committed over the pasttwo decades in several freetrade agreements. The Magh-reb, the Euro-Mediterraneanand the Atlantic options, aswell as the Arab and Africandepths, are today the funda-mental achievements ofMorocco.It is worth mentioning thatMorocco ensures the Secre-tariat General of the Union forthe Mediterranean (UFM)since Juy 4th, 2011. The Unionwas created on July 13, 2008on an idea by the FrenchPresident, Nicolas Sarkozy.The UFM brings together

some forty countries, includingEU countries, Turkey andcountries bordering the Me-diterranean.Morocco has strongly wel-comed the invitation by theGulf Cooperation Council(GCC) to join the six-nationregional grouping, Bahrain,Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, SaudiArabia, and the United ArabEmirates, expressing thus, itssatisfaction with the deep con-sultations and the effective sol-idarity with these countries.Morocco also reiterates un-wavering commitment to build-ing the Arab Maghreb Union,Agadir Agreement, Great ArabFree Trade Area (GAFTA) as afundamental strategic choice.Morocco has been a memberof the World Trade Organiza-tion (WTO) since January 1st,1995.

MOROCCAN ECONOMYMoroccoʼs economy is charac-terised by liberal policies freemarket practices and gov-erned by the law of supply anddemand. Since 1993, thecountry has followed a policyof privatisation of certain eco-nomic sectors which used tobe in the hands of the Govern-ment. The economic systemof the country presents sever-al facets. It is characterised bya large opening towards theoutside world. France is thefirst trading partner of Moroc-co, but in recent years, othercountries have come to investin Morocco, notably, Spain,Japan, USA and others.o Main Sectors:Morocco is the worldʼs largestphosphate exporter and has75% of the world reserves.Blessed with breathtaking nat-ural sites, very rich culture anda unique sense of hospitality,Morocco has a well developedTourism industry. The agricul-

tural sector is very divers andthe manufacturing industryhas been developing steadilyand during the last years,some sectors are achieving anunprecedented growth posi-tioning Morocco as a majorplayer in its region.The Moroccan governmentactively encourages foreigninvestment and has adoptedseveral reforms designed toimprove the investment cli-mate and turn Morocco intoone of the most businessfriendly countries in the World.As a result, a large number offoreign companies are operat-ing in Morocco, of which morethan 120 are American firmsincluding Boeing, Dell, Proctorand Gamble, CMS Energy,Coca-Cola and Time Warner,Renault-Nissan, Delphi Auto-motive etc... In addition, over150 Moroccan firms distributeand represent hundreds ofEuropean and U.S. productsand services.o Foreign trade:The effectiveness of foreigntrade depends on an efficient,modern and simple system,essential for building a com-petitive and incentive environ-ment to support the develop-ment of foreign trade and, inparticular, its export compo-nent.In this sense, an importantprocess of simplifying interna-tional trade procedures hasbeen initiated since 1990 byvarious authorities involved inthe transaction of internationaltrade. This process resulted ina significant improvement inthe procedural system and inparticular by reducing the cost-s inherent in international tradeprocedures and by reducingthe time of storage of goods inports and other areas of cus-toms clearance of goods.The simplification of trade pro-

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cedures, computerisation ofkey stake-holders, standardis-ation of trade documents forexport, relief from customscontrol through the adoption ofthe line allowed for theimprovement of port logistics,progressive liberalisation ofinternational road transport ofgoods ... etc are part of theprocess of simplifying interna-tional trade procedures, initiat-ed in 1986 by the NationalCommission for Simplificationof International Trade Proce-dures.Currently, the focus is on thedematerialisation of interna-tional trade procedures byreplacing paper with electronicmedia. The stage of paperlessis designed as the optimalstage for simplifying interna-tional trade procedures and aprerequisite for the develop-ment of electronic commerceacross borders. To achievethis objective, a pilot project forthe computerised exchangewas launched in 2000, at theport of Casablanca betweenthe “Administration des Doua-nes et Impôts Indirects” andthe “Office dʼExploitation desPorts et les Agents Maritimes”.A study of the widespread useof electronic means for trans-mission of commercial docu-ments and information hasbeen launched recently.Pending the outcome to thedematerialisation of proce-dures, a guide, available on-line at the website of theMinistry of Foreign Trade, is toinform operators of foreigntrade on the rules and proce-dures relating to the importand export of goods, theexport incentive scheme, onhow to apply for the establish-ment of a reasonable andeffective protection in accor-dance with the provisions ofLaw No. 13-89 on foreign

trade, as well as multilateraland bilateral trade agreementsgoverning trade with Moroc-coʼs trading partners.- Main export products:These are: garments, phos-phoric acid, natural and chem-ical fertilisers, wire and cablefor electricity, phosphates,electronic components (tran-sistors), canned fish, crus-taceans, molluscs and shell-fish, citrus, petroleum oil andlubricants, copper waste andscrap, fresh, frozen fruits or inbrine, fresh, salted, dried orsmoked fish, fresh tomatoes,raw silver and other.- Major import products:They are crude oil, gas oilsand fuel oils, petroleum gas

and other hydrocarbons, ma-chinery, miscellaneous, cars,artificial chemicals, plastics,wheat, electricity, iron andsteel in blanks and blooms,industrial cars, radio and tele-vision reception apparatus,drugs, electronic components(transistors), raw coal, pelletsand coke, crushing and ag-glomeration equipment, corn,paper & cardboard and others.o Agriculture: Moroccoʼs agri-culture is the largest in theregion. With its temperate cli-mate and a long growing sea-son, Morocco is able to pro-duce a wide variety of fruitsand vegetables.Moroccoʼs transportation andcommunication systems andits low cost labour force offersignificant comparative advan-tages for Moroccan agribusi-ness. Moroccoʼs top fiveexport categories which makeone fourth of all Moroccan

exports are fresh as well asprocessed fruits & vegetables,olive oil, spices and nuts. Agriculture generally accountsfor between 13 and 16% ofMorocco's GDP and employs45% of the workforce. In 2005,Morocco decided to open upits agricultural sector to foreigninvestors. International invita-tions to tender for a long-termlease of the best arable lands

were launched cur-rently in three phasesby the Agency forAgricultural Develop-ment. The responsefor the first phase was

very positive.The world context of foodsecurity, climate change, risingprices of agricultural products,producer responsibility, thefight against poverty imposedon Morocco to revise its agri-cultural strategy in a way toupgrade, restructure and rede-fine its missions. With this inmind, the new Green MoroccoPlan was developed so as tomake of agriculture the mainengine of growth of the nation-al economy in the next 10 to15 years. This is along withsignificant benefits in terms ofGDP growth, job creation,exports and the fight againstpoverty.o Mining: The mining sectorholds an important place in theMoroccan economy. It repre-sents 21% of the value ofexports revenues and em-ploys about 39,225 persons.For centuries, mining hasbeen one of Moroccoʼs most

practiced economicactivities. Moroccanmining technolgieslike the copper wo-rks and steel manu-facturing were ex-ported abroad, toEurope, in particu-lar, through Spainand the south of

France.Since the beginning of thetwentieth century, major man-ganese, iron, zinc, lead andphosphate fields were discov-ered. Morocco owns 3/4 of theworld's phosphates reserves.The Country is the world's firstexporter and third producer.The State, represented by theCherifian Phosphates Board(OCP) set up in 1920, enjoysmonopoly over the exploitationof phosphates. This exploita-

tion is carried out under ad-vantageous conditions: easy,in the open air extraction,strong content which allows atreatment involving drying andstones clearing.Concerning the other ores, theSate intervenes through the“Office National des Hydrocar-bures et des Mines” (ONHYM)set up in order to promote andstimulate the development ofthe countryʼs mining resour-ces. It is involved in all studiesand research aiming at the val-orisation of mineral substan-ces, with the exception ofphosphates and hydrocar-bons. It also undertakes anycommercial, industrial or finan-cial activity within its domainsof competence.

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In addition, there is artisanalmining primarily in the areas ofTafilalet and the High EasternAtlas, which operate in varioussmall layers of lead, zinc, andbarytine. A State organization,the Figuig and DevelopmentCentral merchandizing of thearea of Tafilalet (CADETAF)was implemented in 1960 inorder to frame, equip, formand assist technically theseartisanal exploitations.Mining valorisation activity hasnot stopped developing since1965 thanks to:- The Safi based chemicalcomplex “Maroc-Chimie” (Iand II) which annual produc-tion capacity amounts to360,000 t/year of phosphoricacid.- “Maroc-Phosphore complex”(I and II) in Safi, the first unit ofwhich became operational in1976 and the second in 1981.The output of each unit is495.000 t/year of acid.- The Jorf Lasfar based chem-ical unit, “Maroc-Phosphore”(III and IV) which started in1986 and which annually pro-

duces 1,320,000 tons of phos-phoric acid. The setting up, in1997, in Jorf Lasfar, of a phos-phoric purified acid workshopcapable of producing 120,000t/year.- The Wadi El Heimer foundryin Oujda which treats a consid-erable quantity of extractedlead; its output amounts to140,000 t/year.

o Maritime Fishing SeafoodIndustry: Morocco boasts twosea coastlines, the AtlanticOcean and the Mediterraneansea, extending over 3,500 km.Moroccan coasts contain animportant wealth of sea re-sources. The creation of the200 nautical mile-long Exclu-sive Economic Zone (ZEE)has increased the maritimearea under national jurisdictionto beyond one million km. Thestrategy applied to this branchof activity has been carried outthrough the setting up ofappropriate administrative, le-gal and financial regulationswhich have allowed the sectorto strengthen its capacitiesand means for the develop-ment of the national maritimewealth. Therefore, this set ofmeasures has allowed for agradual modernization of thecoastal and traditional fishingactivities, the birth of a youngand performing fleet of highsea fishing, the promotion andmodernisation of fishing indus-tries, the expansion of thenational commercial fleet and

the intensificationof scientific re-search in sea fish-eries and maritimetraining.With a fleet of3,000 ships andthriving port facili-ties, Morocco isthe most impor-tant producer andexporter of sea

products in Africa and the Arabworld. It is an important playerin supplying the World marketfor seafood products. Open tothe World and directed mainlyto the markets of theEuropean Union and Japan,the seafood industry repre-sents 55% of Moroccoʼs farm-produce exports and 15% ofthe Countryʼs total exports. It

employs more than 200,000persons. The annual value of

fish products exports is esti-mated at more than 600 mil-lion dollars. The industry of fishing prod-ucts transformation has animportant position in the Mo-roccan economy. Factories transform 70% ofunloaded fish which are dis-tributed in more than 100places all over the world.Fishing industries respect themost exigent internationalnorms, and most of them areISO 9001 and 22000 certified. Canned fish industry: Sardina Pilchardus Walbaumspecies is known all over theworld for its gustative quality.Morocco is the first world pro-ducer/exporter of canned sar-dine. The Kingdom has 39production units, with a pro-duction capacity of 300 000tons. This sector employs21000 employees. Semi-canned fish industry: Salting treatment of freshanchovy of unique EngraulisEncrasicolus species, fruit of amillenarian know-how, wasadopted in the most moderncooking attitudes with a strictrespect of the most exigent ali-mentary security and quality

norms. Different salted an-chovy and marinade basedproducts are made by 20 com-panies, employing 21 000employees. Freezing and processing seafood products: Sea products freezing is onethe important canning and pro-cessing activities in our indus-try. There are 150 processingunits, the majority of which arelocated in the Southern regionof the country, due to thedevelopment of cephalopodand pelagic fishing. This indus-try employs 6 000 employees. Packaging fresh sea productsand fish farming: Several species of white andblue fish are packaged by 40units and 7 fish farming institu-

tions. This sector employs 1000 employees. Fish meal and oil industry: Fish meal and oil industry,established since 1940, is car-ried out in several units im-planted in the main sardineports: Agadir, Safi, Essaouiraand Laayoune. This industryemploys more than 1000employees. Transformation industry ofmarine algae: This industry has made it tothe world second position in

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the exportation of agar-agarwith a high added value, ori-ented to agro-alimentary, pha-rmaceutical, cosmetic, andother applications. This indus-try produces 1250 Tons ofagar-agar and employs about10000 employees. - Textile and garment prod-ucts: Morocco has alwaysbeen known for the high quali-ty of its handcrafted textilesand leather goods. The Fren-ch word “maroquinerie” (fineleather) derives from “Moroc-co”. Its hand knotted rugs arevalued all over the World.Modern Morocco has largesophisticated textiles mills thatproduce large quantities ofready made clothing andaccessories for World mar-kets. The high productivity ofthese modern mills in additionto the skills of traditional crafts-men offer many opportunitiesfor U.S. investors. Many firmsincluding some World famouscompanies and designerssuch as Christian Dior, Cacha-rel, Yves St. Laurent, HugoBoss, Ted Lapidus, Hermes,GAP etc. discovered theadvantages of contracting pro-duction of signature garmentproducts in Morocco.The Morocco-US Free TradeAgreement signed in July2004 and implemented inJanuary 2006 has contributedin bringing unique prospectsfor the Moroccan garmentindustry in the American Mar-ket. Products that normallyhave duties of 15 to 30%applied can now be sourcedfrom Morocco duty free.o Aerospace industry: This

sector in particular witnessedan unprecedented growth inMorocco. The need for theaerospace global industry toreduce costs led a number ofcompanies to explore Moroc-co as a production platform.

Prestigious companies suchas Labinal, Teuchos, Aircelle,DL Aerotechnology, SafranGroup, DAHER, EADS, Creu-zet etc have set up productionunits in Morocco. The aero-space activity is mainly locatedin Casablanca and Tangiers.The Casablanca hub at theinternational airport is called“Aeronautic City”. The industryin Tanger Free Zone is alsoexpanding rapidly.Today, the sector is made of50 companies which provide5000 jobs. Within few years,Morocco has developed anaerospace industry hub thatgathers a large scope ofexpertise such as studies sur-veys, mechanics and tooling,composites, distribution ofchemical products, surfacetreatment, electric and elec-tronic components, civil, mili-tary aircrafts and helicoptersmaintenance, engine mainte-nance, nacelles, aeronautictraining. Most of these indus-tries are EN 9100 certified.The fast development of thissector in Morocco promptedthe organisation of the firstinternational exhibition in NorthAfrica, bringing together majoraeronautics players. AeroExpo 2007 represents a plat-form of local and internationalsector players.o Automotive industry: Se-veral assets distinguish theMoroccan auto parts sector inthe Mediterranean region. Mo-rocco boats an automobile tra-dition dating back to the 60s. Itpossesses assembly lines and

commercial vehicles as wellas for heavyweight vehicles. An expanding local market inview of increasing transportneeds; the same market isalso opened onto other coun-tries of the region through freetrade agreements, reinforcing,thereby, the kingdom's appealfor any investor.Naturally, destined to consoli-date outsourcing relations bet-ween manufacturers and firstrank auto parts manufactur-ers, or among first rank autoparts manufacturers them-selves, this position may turnout efficient for winning otherexport market shares.This observation is confirmedby the case study of theAmerican Canadian auto partsmanufacturers Poly-designSystems (branch of PolytechNetting), which relocated inMorocco to supply Ford inSpain and won over othermarkets of Renault and PSA.They currently represent 60%of its turnover.Morocco becomes increasing-ly a hosting platform for relo-cated research centres likeMatra Automobile Engineer-ing, a branch of Pininfarina'sautomobile design group runby Mr. Pininfarina, who signeda convention with the Moroc-can Government to establish aresearch and engineering cen-tre.Tanger free zone particularlyaffords foreign auto parts man-ufacturers an investment fra-mework meeting internationalstandards and reinforces Mo-rocco's appeal as a zone ofrelocation. The free zone issystematically favored whenmanufacturers want to supplycountries of Central and Wes-tern Europe. Being close toEurope is to a great extent inits favour, particularly, from aperspective of timely produc-

tion.Morocco is in a position toafford its principals, manufac-turers, first rank auto partsmanufacturers as well as theirsuppliers with a competitiveplatform to supply Europe. o Handicrafts: The Moroccanhandicraft sector accounts for20 percent of national laborforce and more than 10 per-cent of the countryʼs grossdomestic product. Morocco isone of the major craft produc-ing countries of the world. As Morocco enters a new andcompetitive trade regime, thesector holds the promise ofsignificant contributions to ex-ports as well as strengtheningMoroccoʼs tourism industry. The products of Moroccanhandicraft are one of the fun-damental characteristics of theMoroccan lifestyle. Over 40corporations have been work-ing wood, metal, copper, wool,linen, stone and clay for cen-turies. Adapted to the needs ofmodern life, Moroccan handi-craft production relies on tradi-tions, offering thus a large vari-ety of products ranging fromleather working to carpet wea-ving.The new national strategy forthe craft is designed to meetan important target, which is toadopt, on the one hand, a pro-active policy to create enoughnew jobs and on the other, toillustrates the new role of theadministration which must mo-ve to management develop-ment. In other words, the Statebecomes a coach who selects

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areas for development anddirects and supervises privateactors. The private sector forits part is expanding into thetask of the implementation ofthese areas of developmentand job creation.As one of the first countries inthe World to witness the birthon its soil of a varied lithicindustry, Morocco, from itspast, its ancient traditions, thediversity of its people and itsculture has known how to usethis wealth in creating carpets,traditional costumes, jewelry,pottery, ceramics, carvedwood, the carved zellij, sculpt-ed plaster ...Handicraft exports play a vitalrole in the development of pro-duction and reduction of un-employment. The reputation ofMoroccan handicraft articlesexported abroad is rooted inthe dual function of theseproducts that are both decora-tive and utilitarian, two qualitiesoften required by foreign con-sumers.The year 1996 saw the cre-ation of 46 new co-operativeswith 979 cooperators with agrowth rate of 4% comparedto 1995 (32 co-operatives with1,051 co-operators. The totalnumber of co-operatives in-creased from 297 in 1995(11,314 co-operators) to 343 in1996. 12,322 co-operativegrouping is an annual growthrate of 15%. It should be notedthat the number of co-opera-tives has changed in 2008 to19.2% compared to 2006,passing from 5276 to 6286.This increase is the result ofthe place that the co-operativesector occupies in the pro-grams of the economic andsocial development, a placewhich was strengthened withthe National Initiative forHuman Development (NIHD),launched by His Majesty the

King Mohammed VI in 2005.The agricultural sector is pre-dominant in the fabric co-oper-ative with 3903 units repre-senting 62.1%. The housingsector occupies the secondplace with a total of 15.4% anda growth rate of 10% between2004 and 2006.The Vision 2015 saw the lightin order to cultivate the grow-ing inventiveness of Moroccancraftsmen. Original, clear andvoluntarist, with a concreteand sequence action plan, theVision of 2015 is a strategyaiming at the development ofthe sector of handicrafts ofMorocco in the next decade.Its ultimate objective is the cre-ation of new jobs through thepermanent development ofthe sector, structured hence-forth in 6 titles: decoration, jew-ellery, furniture, clothes, archi-tecture and soil products.o Energy:- Coal:Discovered in 1927 in theNorth East of the Country, thedeposit Jerada has been ex-ploited by the company "Char-

bonnages du Maroc" since1932. In a complex morpholo-gy, this deposit consists of thinlayers (80 cm 30A) and itsexploitation is 600 metersdeep. The potential reservesare estimated at 100 milliontonnes. The coal is treated in awashing basin of a capacity of300 tons per hour.Coal production is used tosupply power plants and asmall portion is used by sugar

factories, industries and heat-ing.- Electricity:The electricity sector in Moroc-co is characterized by a diver-sity of actors in both public andprivate sectors operating in thevarious activities necessary tomeet the electricity needs ofcustomers. The main opera-tors are:* “Office National de l̓ Electri-cité” (ONE) in charge of en-suring the utility of the genera-tion, transmission and distribu-tion of electric power. It alsohas the exclusive develop-ment of the means of produc-tion with a capacity above 10MW. - Petroleum products:Morocco depends for morethan 85% of its energy sup-plies on foreign countries. Thefuel bill absorbs about 25% ofexport earnings.Almost all crude oil is importedfrom countries such as SaudiArabia, Iraq, Iran and Russia. The activities of oil explorationin Morocco was given to the“Office National des Hydro-carbures et des Mines”(ONHYM) set up in order topromote and stimulate thedevelopment of the countryʼsmining resources. After themerger of the two refineriesSCP and SAMIR, the refiningbusiness is currently providedby the “Société Anonyme Ma-rocaine de l'Industrie de Raffi-nage” (SAMIR) in Mohamma-dia. In addition to refiningcrude oil, the company alsohandles the filling of liquefiedpetroleum gas and manufac-turing lubricating oils. It pro-vides nearly all the country'sneeds for refined petroleumproducts. These products aredelivered, on the one hand, tothe distributor companies lo-cated throughout the Country(Shell, Total, Mobil, Afriquia...)

in terms of fuel, gasoil, fuel oiland jet fuel; and on the other,the filling plants of liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG) in termsof propane and butane.- Water:The hydrological context ofMorocco is mainly influencedby an irregularity and an annu-al inter-annual variability inrainfall and very marked het-erogeneity of their distribution.The alternating sequences ofhigh water levels and se-quences of drought intensityand duration variables is alsoa dominant feature of hydro-logical regimes.The average annual rainfall isover 1000 mm (1 million m3per km2) in the mountainousareas of the north (Rif TangiersMediterranean coasts West)and less than 300 mm(300,000 m3 per km2) in thebasins of the Moulouya Ten-sift, Souss-Massa, areas ofthe south of Atlas and theSaharan zone, almost 85% ofthe area of the Kingdom.These rains usually occur intwo pluvial periods, Autumnand Winter. The number ofrainy days varies from about30 to the south of the Countryto nearly 70 in the North.Morocco has experienced se-veral years of drought. Thisunequal distribution in timeand space in rainfall and waterresources that it generates,requires construction of largedams and reservoirs to storethe inputs of wet years in favorof their use in dry years. It alsorequires, where possible, achi-eving the transfer of waterfrom privileged areas to deficitareas in water in order to pro-mote sustainable economicand social development on thewhole territory of the country.o Solar Energy: "MoroccanProject of Solar Energy"The ambitious and realistic

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national project called "Moroc-can Project of Solar Energy" ispart of the energy strategy laidout by His Majesty the King,who gives priority to develop-ing renewable energy andsustainable development.The integrated developmentproject is the establishment in2020 of a capacity of electrici-ty production from solar ener-gy with a total capacity of 2000

MW in five sites: Ouarzazate-Ain Bni Mathar-Foum AlOued-Boujdour et SebkhatTah. This power represented38% of installed capacity atthe end of 2008 and will repre-sent 14% of electric power by2020.This project provides severalchallenges for the develop-ment of solar potential. It con-tributes to reducing energydependence, the preservationof the environment by limitingemissions of greenhouse ga-ses and the fight against theclimate change. Eventually, itwill annually save 1 milliontons of fuel oil and prevent theemission of 3.7 million tonnesof CO2.This project is in line with inter-national trends, which face agrowing energy demand andthe challenge of global warm-ing, renewable energy, includ-ing particularly solar energy asa priority.o Wind Energy: “the MoroccanProject of wind power”

His Majesty the King Mo-hammed VI opened on June

28th, 2010 in Tangiers “Tan-gier wind farm” with a capacityof 1140 MW, an investment of2,75 billion dirhams represent-ing the largest project of itskind ever realised up to date inthe Kingdom.This achievement is part of theimplementation of plannedprograms in the new energystrategy developed in accor-dance with the High Royaldiretions and erecting thedevelopment of renewableenergy and energy efficiencyas a top priority and as theoptimal way to Morocco tomeet the challenges of securi-ty of supply, to protect the envi-ronment and sustainable de-velopment. This MoroccanProject of Wind Energy plansto build new wind farms whichwill bring the installed capacityfrom wind power of 280 MW,at present, to 2000 MW in2020. In this horizon, plantsoperating on renewable ener-gy will account for 42% of thetotal of the electrical capaciy,solar wind and hydraulic, eachcounting 14%. This will con-tribute towards meeting thegrowing energy needs accel-erating the economic andsocial development experi-enced by Morocco with thecompletion of major projectsalready underway or plannedin agriculture, industry, infra-structure, housing and touri-sm. This unprecedented grow-th led to a rise in energy

demand at a steady rate of 5%per annum on average. Thetotal installed electrical powerwill be tripled in 2020 from itscurrent level.o Privatisation: The last fifteenyears have been marked inMorocco by intensify efforts ofeconomic liberalisation andthe strengthening of the pri-vate sector's role in the nation-al economy. Parallel to the pro-gram of economic and socialreform which targeted both theprocess of the simplification ofadministrative procedures topromote investment, the policyof State withdrawal has beenestablished since 1989 withthe enactment of Law No. 39-89 authorizing the transfer ofpublic enterprises to the pri-vate sector. The privatisationoperations started indeed in1993.The objectives of the privatisa-tion program as they wereclearly defined by the RoyalSpeech of April 8, 1988 arenumerous. They convergemainly into the modernizationof the Moroc-can economy,with a greater openness onthe global economy and alarger participation of theCountry in international trade,the redution of the budget bur-den for support to public enter-prises, improvement of theindustrial and financial per-formance of companies, theconsolidation of the regional-ization process, the enlarge-ment of shareholding to newsocial groups, increasedinvestments that create jobsand new skills and stimulationof new generations of entre-preneurs.The image of Morocco at theinternational level has beensignificantly improved by thesuccess of the privatisationprogram. The internationaltenders and major operations

that followed, such as thoserelated to 35% of “MarocTelecom” and 80% of “Régiedes Tabacs”, drew attention ofthe international businesscommunity and made themcontribute significantly tostrengthen the image of theMoroccan economy abroad.The international financialcommunity has in fact appreci-ated the realisations of theseoperations, considering thatthey were conducted with ahigh level of professionalismand transparency. Morocco has liberalised itstelecom sector, which is nowthe most developed and mod-ern in the region. Its state-of-the-art equipment's, combinedwith the well-educated workforce, competitive wages,favourable foreign investmentlaws and an ideal climatehelped convince many com-panies seeking to establishnew grounds for offshore soft-ware development, hardwareintegration, product manufac-turing and, most recently, call-centers.Morocco has also emerged asone of the fastest growingbroadband Internet markets inthe world, growing at a rate of200% by adding a total of135,000 DSL lines in the firstthree quarters of 2005, for atotal installed base of 179,000lines.o Off-shoring & call centers:Morocco aims to create up to100,000 jobs over ten years bydrawing new business fromcompanies seeking to hive offlabor-intensive service activi-ties. The government is setting upa chain of specialized busi-ness zones across the King-dom to capture a slice of theglobal market for offshoreservices, expected to be worth$38.74 billion over the next ten

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years.The zones offer lower over-heads such as telecommuni-cation costs, simplified admin-istration and employee trainingservices to draw banks, insur-ers and IT companies.With a plentiful supply ofFrench and Spanish-speakinggraduates, Morocco intends toreplicate the success of India,which has become an out-sourcing hub for the English-speaking world.Calls centers for French andSpanish speaking countriesincreased substantially duringthe last years. The world lead-ing computer company, Dellhas opened a business centerin Morocco to address itsEuropean markets needs.o Banking system:The banking sector plays amajor role in the Moroccaneconomy. It experienced vari-ous reforms that have made ita modern, tailored to theneeds of society and to thosecompanies. All modern bank-ing services and products areoffered by major banks.

Until 1943, the banking sys-tem was unregulated, an orderwas established in March ofthat year in an attempt toorganize and control the bank-ing activity which applied to thesouth and has been extendedto Tangiers. The banking sector in Moroc-co comprises the central bank,investment institutions andabout 18 other commercialbanks, which provide a com-

prehensive range of services.Bank Al-maghrib which wasset up on June 30th, 1959 isboth a central and issuingbank. As a central bank, it hassupervisory powers over cred-it distribution and control. TheCentral Bank guarantees thesupervision of the other banksas well as financial institutions.The other banks existing inMorocco are submitted to thelegislation of authorities.The commercial banks pro-vide commercial and savingsbank activities with merchantbanking facilities.o Infrastructure: Basic infrastructure are themain drivers of economicgrowth and development. Thatis why they are among themain priorities of the Govern-ment. In fact, all trade andtourism activities of the Coun-try depend on the construc-tion, extension, maintenanceand improvement of roads.Therefore, the Ministry ofEquipment and Transport ismaking all efforts to achieve amodern basic infrastructure,facilitating local, regional andinternational exchanges andensuring the smooth, comfort-able and safe movement ofgoods and people.. Road network and motor-way: Morocco has a road net-work which places it amongthe first countries in Africa, witha total length of 60,000 km ofwhich 60% covered.The linear roads built annuallyis 1,500 km, in addition to theMediterranean bypass underconstruction which will con-nect Tangiers to Saidia. Thecompletion in 2005 of 11000km of roads in the first nationalprogram of rural roads(PNRR1) will increase the rateof the populations served by aroad 54%, and productionfrom 2005, 15000 km planned

in the new program (PNRR2)will increase the rate of acces-sibility of the rural road networkto 80% by 2015.. Highways: The rate of com-pletion of the motorway net-work that has prevailed untilnow was 50km/year. In thissense, a milestone was rea-ched in 2004 with the imple-mentation arrangements andfinancing mechanisms neces-sary to achieve the highwayprogram.Morocco has the most motor-ways of the Maghreb and thesecond in Africa after that ofSouth Africa. It extends over alength of 1416 km (July 2011)and 1804 are to be set out by2015. Existing highways nowlink Rabat and Casablanca toTangier in the north, eastOujda and Marrakech andAgadir in the south.. Railway network:The Moroccan railway net-work is 1900 km, 370 km dou-ble track, 53% of the network

is electrified and 900 km areoperated by diesel traction.This network can reach up to160 Km/h on mainroads. It is in the formof a corridor linkingMarrakech and Oujdain the middle east,with branches servingthe port of TangiersSound, and the portsof Safi and Jorf-Lasfaron the Atlantic. On theinternational front, Morocco is

a member of the InternationalRail Transport (OTIF). ONCFis an active member of theInternational Union of Rail-ways (UIC), the Arab Union ofRailways (UACF) and theMaghreb Railway TransportCommittee (CTFM). Maritime Sector:With a coastline of 3500 km,divided between the Atlanticand the Mediterranean, Mo-rocco currently has 30 ports

which constitute a networkport. To these ports is addedthe port “Tanger-Mediterran-née”.Passenger traffic is handledprimarily by two major ports:Tangiers on the Strait andNador in northern Morocco.. Air Transport: Morocco has15 international airports locat-ed in the major cities of theKingdom. These airports areserved by roads in good condi-tion and a very efficient level ofservice. They are also equip-ped with very modern aviationfacilities for traffic manage-ment business in the best pos-sible flow and safety. The totalcapacity of passenger termi-nals in such airports is about12 million pax / year, 4 millionfor the Casablanca-Moham-

med V, 2.2 million for the air-

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port Agadir-Al Massira and 1.5million for the Airport Marrake-ch-Menara.Thanks to an Open Sky policy,the 15 international airports inMorocco (largest airport hub inthe region) are used by a mul-titude of international compa-nies and are connected tomajor cities and economicplatforms of world affairs.o Investment:Enjoying great political and

institutional stability based ona continuous process of devel-opment and democratisation,Morocco has worked inces-santly to improve its invest-ment environment and en-hance the Countryʼs competi-tiveness at the internationallevel. It has recently embarkedon the implementation of asubstantial programme torestructure the regulation ofseveral fields, making theKingdom increasingly attrac-tive to foreign and Moroccaninvestors alike.The main change in terms ofinvestment took place in 1995when the Moroccan Govern-ment introduced the Invest-ment Charter. This new textgives foreign investors theright to invest and to transferincome from investment (prof-its, dividends, capital) andearnings from sale or liquida-tion, without any limits onamounts or duration and thefreedom to invest without priorauthorisation. It also openedthe door for investing in allindustrial sectors, except for a-griculture, which is regulatedby a special law.There are 7 top reasons whyto invest in Morocco:- Cost Competitivenes: Only14km south of Europe, Mo-rocco is a competitive platform

for export:* Low Wages: The averagewage is $ 327/month, i.e.almost ten times lower than inSpain.* Competitive costs to export:$700 / container.* Low Tax rates : Taxes paid bycompanies represent only42% of their profit.- Strong and Stable Macro-economic Performances: Pre-serving macro-economic sta-bility is a major concern forMoroccan Governments. Se-veral actions and structuralreforms have been undertak-en to put the Country on thepath of strong and sustainablegrowth:* Access to new growth levels:a continuously growing econo-my with an average growthrate of 5.1% over the period2001-2009, registering anincrease of 3.3 points com-pared to the previous decade.* Resilience in the face of thecrisis: despite the internationalfinancial and economic crisis,Morocco's economy has pro-ved to be resilient: 4.9% GDPgrowth in 2009 (largest in-crease across the Mediter-ranean region).* Controlled inflation: around2% despite the increase in oiland raw material prices.* Reducing debt levels: theoverall debt of the treasurywas reduced by 26 pointsbetween 2000 and 2009 tostand at 47% of GDP.* Growth driven by domesticdemand and public invest-ment: household consumptiongrew by 8% per year between2004 and 2009 to reach MAD420 billion (USD 44 billion),while public investment nearlytripled during the same periodto reach MAD 162 billion (USD17 billion).- Free Trade Access to OneBillion Consumers: Thanks to

diverse free trade agree-ments, Morocco offers in-vestors free duty access to amarket of 55 countries repre-senting more than 1 billionconsumers and 60% of worldGDP.* Morocco/ European Union:Morocco is the first country inthe southern side of the Me-diterranean to benefit from theadvanced status in its relationswith the European Union.* Morocco / USA: The FreeTrade Agreement with theUnited States (Moroccoʼs 6thlargest trade partner) is part ofthe overall strategy of theMoroccan economy.* Agadir Treaty: signed inFebruary 2004 and came intoeffect in April 2007, the Agadirfree trade agreement betweenMorocco, Egypt, Jordan andTunisia, provides for the imme-diate lifting of Non-Tariff Bar-riers and the gradual establish-ment of a free trade area. * Morocco and Turkey: TheFree Trade Agreement signedwith Turkey supports tradebetween the two countries thatcontinues to grow, as it rea-ched in 2009 an annual vol-ume of USD 900 million again-st 260 million in 2003.* Morocco/ WAEMU: The sig-nature of trade and investmentagreement between Moroccoand the West African Econo-mic and Monetary Union willlay the ground for sustainedregional co-operation and con-tribute to making the Kingdoma gateway to the West Africanmarket.Thanks to its geostrategic lo-cation, Morocco is at thecrossroads of the main inter-national exchange routes, link-ing the United States of Ame-rica, Europe, Africa and theMiddle-East.- World Class Infrastructure:For over a decade, Moroccolaunched large scale projects

aimed at elevating its infra-structure to international stan-dards, as regards ports, air-ports, railways, roads, high-ways and telecommunica-tions.- Qualified Labor Force: InMorocco, human resourceshave all the ingredients tobecome the pivots of a com-petitive investment and valuecreator: education level, cultur-al openness, language skillsand new technologies, com-mitment to entrepreneurship,adaptation capacity to changeand competitive labour costs:* A young and active popula-tion;* Qualified Human Ressour-ces;* Advanced linguistics capaci-ties;* Vocation training adapted tomarket needs;* Training institutes for eachsectorial strategy.- Sectorial Plans: Moroccolaunched numerous strategicsectorial plans within “emer-gence plan” that ensure strongand sustainable economicgrowth. This reform momen-tum is marked by an innova-tive contracting approach andpublic private partnership ad-vocating greater and co-ordi-nated participation of the pri-vate sector in the developmentof sectorial strategies and poli-cies along with the funding ofprojects allowing to refocus theStateʼs role on its regulatorypowers.These strategies are part of aprocess to speed the develop-ment of strategic sectors likeagriculture, fishery, mining, re-newable energy, logistics andpromising sectors such as au-tomotive, aerospace and serv-ices with high added value.- Constantly improving busi-ness Climate: To promote theinvestment act, a particularattention is given to improving

28


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the business climate. A set ofmechanisms to increase com-petition and transparency wasput in place:* Simplification of administra-tive procedures for business-es;* Strengthening the businesslaw framework (law on compe-tition and free pricing, law oneconomic interest groups, lawon industrial and intellectualproperty...);* Improving regulatory trans-parency;* Development and moderni-sation of financial markets;* Creation of the Business En-vironment National Com-mit-tee;* Creation of the Central Au-thority on the Prevention ofCorruption;* Creation of the MoroccanOffice for Intellectual andCommercial Property;* Promotion of the Charter onCorporate Social Responsibili-ty.- A Welcoming BusinessEnvironment:* Great political and institution-al stability based on a continu-ous process of democratiza-tion;* Institutional support andattractive legal framework;* A policy of structural reformsand liberalization of the econo-my;* An educated, qualified andcheap labour force; Geogra-phical proximity to Europe;* Sound infrastructure;* A total of 16 RegionalInvestment Centers to ensurespeedy company registration

and business troubleshooting;* Inflation and debt under con-trol.- Investment Charter:The main objective of theinvestment charter is to deter-mine the Stateʼs actions interms of the promotion ofinvestments for the coming tenyears. It replaces investmentlaws of different sectors,except agriculture.- Incentives related to the cre-ation phase1.a - Registration tax* The acquisition deeds oflands intended for carrying outan investment project areexempted from the registrationtax;* The application of a 2.5% taxrate on the acquisition deedsof lands intended for carryingout housing estate and con-struction operations;* The application of a 0.5% taxrate on the contribution to theinitial capital of the companiesor any capital increase.1.b – Costumes duties* Import duty must not be infe-rior to 2,5% ad valorem;* Equipment goods, materials,tools and their parts, spareparts and accessories consid-ered as necessary to promoteand develop investment, shallbe liable to an import duty of2,5% ad valorem as a mini-mum rate or 10% ad valoremas a maximum rate;* Equipment goods, materials,tools and their parts, spareparts and accessories shall beexempted from import tax levy,with regard to the national eco-nomic interests.1.c – Value added tax (VAT)* Shall be exempted frominland and import value-addedtax the equipment goods,materials and tools that haveto be inscribed in a realtyaccount and thus open theright to tax deduction in accor-

dance with the legislationsrelated to the value-added tax.Enterprises that have paidimport duty or local purchasetax on the above mentionedgoods shall benefit from thereimbursement of the saidduty or tax.1.d – Patent tax* Cancellation of the variabletax;* Exemption during the firstfive years for any natural per-son or corporate body workingin a professional, industrial orcommercial activity.1.e – Urban tax* New buildings, additions tothe buildings as also the outfitbeing part and parcel of goodsor service production estab-lishments will all be exemptedfrom the urban tax during thefirst five years following theircompletion or their set-up.However, establishments ofcompanies having their regis-tered offices outside Morocco,allottees of work, supply orservice tenders, credit estab-lishments, insurance compa-nies and real estate agencieswill not benefit from thisexemption.- Incentives related to theimplementation phase2.a - Participation in the na-tional solidarity* The National Solidarity Taxattached to the corporation taxis suppressed.* However, profits and incomethat are entirely exemptedfrom the corporation tax areliable, instead of the participa-tion in the National Solidarity,to a tax equal to 25 % of thecorporation tax.2.b- General income tax andCorporation tax* The enterprises exportingproducts and/or services ben-efit from the total exemption ofthe corporation tax during afive year period and up to a 50

% reduction beyond this peri-od.* With regard to enterprisesexporting services, however,the above mentioned exemp-tion and reduction apply onlyto export turnovers made inforeign currency.* Handicraft enterprises who-se products are essentially theresult of manual work benefitfrom a 50 % reduction on thecorporation tax during the firstfive years following the begin-ning of their operation, wher-ever the place of their estab-lishment may be.* The enterprises establishedin the prefectures or provinceswhose economic activity levelrequires a preferential taxtreatment profit from a 50 %reduction of the corporationtax, during the first five consec-utive years of their operation.3.c - Decreasing Redemptions* Decreasing Redemptions willbe maintained for equipmentgoods.4.d - Provisions for invest-ments concerning CorporationTax and Income General Tax* Are considered as deductiblecharges the provisions made,within the limit of 20 % of tax-able profit before taxation, bythe enterprises aiming to effectinvestment in equipmentgoods, materials and tools,within the limit of 30 % of thesaid investment.5.e - Estate Profit Tax* In order to encourage theconstruction of social housing,the profit realised by the per-sons with regard to the firstassignment of the premisesfor dwelling use will be exem-pted from the estate profit tax,provided that the assignmentis for non-speculative purposeand that the housing is of asocial character. - Additional advantages:The enterprises whose invest-


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ment programmes are consid-ered very important (withregard to budget, number ofjobs, region, technology, etc.),can conclude a contract withthe government and benefitfrom partial exemption fromthe following expenses:* land acquisition expenses re-quired for investment realisa-tion;* external infrastructure ex-penses;* vocational training costs.* in the provinces and prefec-tures whose economic devel-opment level justifies a specialassistance from the Govern-ment, this latter takes over apart of the set-up costs of theindustrial zones which will beimplemented there.The creation of an account forspecial assignment called"Investment Promotion Fund"designed to fund the opera-tions relating to the govern-ment's take-over of the costsof advantages granted toinvestors as part of the invest-ment contract system men-tioned above, as well as theexpenses required by invest-ment promotion.The creation of an administra-tive body in charge of orient-ing, informing and assistinginvestors, as well as promotinginvestments.The creation of a “land re-serve” designed for invest-ment projects and the partici-pation in the acquisition oflands needed for investments.- Investor Protection:International conventions re-lating to the guarantee andprotection of investments: Aspart of foreign investment pro-motion efforts, Morocco hasratified international conven-tions relating to the guaranteeand protection of investment.These include agreements on

the establishment of:* The International Center forSettlement of Investment Dis-putes "ICSID" * The Multilateral InvestmentGuarantee Agency "MIGA"* The Inter-Arab InvestmentGuarantee Corporation Bilateral agreements andconventions relating to theguarantee and protection ofinvestment:The promotion of foreign in-vestment in Morocco is notonly limited to the adherenceto international multilateralconventions but extends to thebilateral ones, as part ofstrengthening relations withkey partners. So many trea-ties, agreements and conven-tions for the promotion andprotection of investments andavoidance of double taxationhave been signed throughoutthe recent decades.Agreements and conventionsrelated to promotion and in-vestment protection: The mainprovisions of these agree-ments and conventions con-cern the following aspects:* Treatment of permitted in-vestments* Free transfer of capital andincome* The non-expropriation ofinvestment, except for publicutility reasons and following acourt decision (on a nondis-criminatory basis and to pay aprompt and adequate com-pensation)* Disputes with recourse todomestic courts or internation-al arbitration at the choice ofthe investorNon-double Taxation Agree-ments:Morocco has signed agree-ments with several countriesto avoid double taxation withrespect to income tax. Theseagreements establish the list

of taxes and income con-cerned, the rules for mutualadministrative assistance andthe principle of non-discrimina-tion.Investor protection under thelaw: The investment charterhas set up a regime of con-vertibility for foreign invest-ment. This scheme allowsinvestors to freely carry outtheir investment in Moroccoand transfer, directly throughthe banking system, revenuesgenerated by these invest-ments and the proceeds oftheir sale or liquidation.Investment Zones* The Integrated IndustrialPlatforms (P2I): the P2I pro-gram includes 3 types of plat-forms:- The GP P2I: open to all sec-tors, and can combine severalsectoral areas- The Sectoral P2I: dedicatedto a specific sector, they maynevertheless contain areasreserved for areas close to themain area (eg district P2I CarEntertainment in Automotive)- The P2I Districts Regional /National: areas usually re-served for an industrial playersfrom the same region of a for-eign countryThe program aims to P2I pro-gressively establish a networkof 22 P2I, some existing zonesand that this upgrade in termsof value proposition for in-vestors.* Areas of economic activityand industrial areas:Parallel to the development ofP2i, a program for achievingareas of economic activity isset up with a rehabilitation ofseveral industrial areas. Themain objective is to enableregions to strengthen theirindustrial potential.Both programs include:- Development of land supply;

- The available to contractorsto offer complete service qual-ity for their projects- The use of optimal regionalindustrial opportunities* Zones:Established by law 19-94(Dahir No. 1-95-1 dated 26January 1995), export pro-cessing zones are areas iden-tified where the customs terri-tory are authorized, exemptionfrom customs regulations, tra-de controls outside and ex-change, all export activities forindustrial or commercial andservice activities related. Eachzone is created and defined bya decree which establishesthe nature and activities ofcompanies can establishthemselves.The concessionaire of theEPZ provides developmentand management of the areaand the presentation files ofinvestors to the approval of thelocal board of the ExportProcessing Zones.The company manager be-haves in the image of a singlevis-à-vis the investor.Morocco has different zones,among which:- Tanger Med Zones in Ksar elMellousa Majaz 1 and 2;- Free Zone Dakhla andLaayoune- Export Processing Zones ofKenitra.- Tourism:Morocco boasts important nat-ural and historical assets anda rich and diversified culturallegacy. In Morocco, increasingpriority is being given totourism because of its positive



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economic and social impact.Most tourists visiting Morocco

are of European origin (Fren-ch, German, Spanish, as wellas Japanese, American, Ca-nadian, Arab and Asian coun-tries). As of the first half of2011, the number of Frenchtourists reached 1531546, the Spanish (845,844). The

British (231,677), Belgians(244,455), Italians (168,870)and Moroccans residing ab-road (1758032).The government has targetedan annual total of 10 milliontourists by 2010, and haspledged to offer additionalincentives for investment in thetourism sector, including long-term financing for hotel con-struction, tax exemptions andthe revamping of local taxation.Moreover, the governmentvowed to invest Dh 45 bn (US$5.49 bn) in new resorts,designed to increase Mo-roccoʼs overall bed capacity.The Government has alsoengaged in financing tourist

infrastructure, as well as initiat-ing the liberalisation of the air-line industry and increasing thebudget allocation for the pro-motion of tourism, in a bid tobolster the development of thesector. The 2020 Vision, presented on30 November in Marrakech to His Majesty the KingMohammed VI, has set a goalof doubling the size of thetourism sector, ranking Moroc-co among the 20 leadingtourist destinations. Eight newdestinations will be born aspart of the 2020 Vision. The lat-ter will play an important role inthe advanced regionalisationprocess in which the Kingdom

is committed by adopting aninnovative initiative based oneight territories. These areas have a consistenttourist attraction.One of the great key factorsfor the success of the 2020Vision, depends on the abilityof tourism to implement a newgovernance of the sector. AHigh Authority for Tourism willbe created. It is a public-privateinstance involving regions, withthe task of ensuring consisten-cy of national and regionalstrategies, coordinating, moni-toring, and evaluating theirrealisations. �

31

Fez

Laayoune

Sources:

- www.maroc.ma- www.mem.gov.ma-www.equipemen-transport.gov.ma- www.invest.gov.ma-www.marocexport.ma- www.marocainsdu-monde.gov.ma

- www.regionalisation-avancee.ma- www.moroccoem-bassyin.org- www.maisonartisan.ma- www.moroccotoday.info- www.cgem.ma

Ouarzazate


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INTRODUCTION Infrastructure plays a key role in eco-nomic development and poverty reduc-tion. Indeed, infrastructure services arewell developed and maintained eitherin electricity, transport; TIC, water andsanitation contribute to reducing barri-ers to economic growth and their trans-action costs and contribute greatly toimproving the lives of the poor by facil-itating their access to public and socialservices. The studies highlight the importance oflogistics and transport development ingeneral and in the promotion of nation-al, regional and international Trade inparticular. They confirmed that the age-ing infrastructure and inefficient transitoperations resulted in high transportcosts and are major impediments tothe expansion of trade and sustainabledevelopment in many developingcountries. Thus, the rapid growth of world tradesince 1985 requires an innovation intransport services to facilitate transac-tions of the production areas to thoseof consumption through intermediariesin the overall chain. The emergence ofair transport and the global manage-ment of integrated multimodal trafficnetworks through new informationtechnologies and communicationshave expanded the scope of tradablegoods between countries and con-tributed to the growth of world tradeespecially that of manufactured prod-ucts.The shorter the chain is the less it willcost. These costs depend on the tech-nology used for containerisation, pack-aging, sophistication of machinesused, the transport strategy and distri-bution (Hub and Spokes) monitoringorders (GPS, RFID ...) input prices i.e.fuel, labour, the level of demand andcost of services on border crossings. Moreover, the logistical costs currently

represent about 10% of global GDP. Itis difficult to assess the costs of trans-port in international business transac-tions because it is not the only barrierto international trade. This assessmentis usually done through a survey of car-riers or customs to calculate the ad val-orem freight rate constituting the costindex of transport in a country vis-à-visto its trading partners. The ratio ofCIF/FOB helps to understand the costof transport. Thus, estimates of theimpact of transport cost on trade relyon comparisons of trade flows in spaceand time using the gravity model. Fuelprices played an important role in thetransport costs of goods. This cost varies depending on themode of transport (land, air, sea, rail),the distance (route: infrastructure qual-ity, timeliness and frequency of pas-sage and opportunity of a return roadto transport goods, congestion), char-acteristics of goods (weight, fragility,value, durability, liquid, solid, ...), thequantity transported, load (full or par-tial, consolidation), the market power ofthe carrier, the speed, security andtransportation security. Air transport isstill the fastest but most expensive,while marine transportation is the mostcommon (90%). According to various studies by UNC-TAD, the doubling of the distance trav-eled by sea is reflected by an increasein freight costs by 15% to 20%. Thefreight rate increases with the numberof transshipments, but it may declinewith competition, the frequency rate ofthe route, the state of connectivity (di-rect) and volume of transactions up12%. Some studies suggest that dou-bling transport costs reduces trade vol-ume of a country by 80% and if a coun-try reduces its transportation costs by50%, the trade volume may increasefivefold (Nuno and Venables, 2001)depending on the ability of the country.

These costs are generally FOB-type(production costs, transportation of theproduction area to the final customer),CIF (commodity, insurance andfreight), costs between terminals (load-ing, unloading and transhipment), linetransportation costs (labour, fuel andweight) and capital costs (inflation). Furthermore, it should also be notedthat landlocked countries are charac-terized by a chronic deficit in the tradebalance of manufactured importsbecause of the high cost of road trans-port costs and usually containersreturn empty. These countries are fac-ing delays of deliveries often unbear-able because of the unavailability ofheavy trucks drivers and passages onborder crossings and even within thecountry (red tape). The establishmentof intra-regional rail line would be a bet-ter option for OIC countries to facilitatetransit operations between the coastalcountries and landlocked countries.

IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORT INTHE OIC MEMBER STATES TRADEWorld trade is supplied by three region-al hubs namely, Europe, North Americaand Asia, which accounted for 85% ofthis trade in 2009. This regionalizationof trade stemmed from the close com-plementarity of economies and geo-graphical proximity, closeness that nat-urally reduces transportation costs.Moreover, regional agreements havealso aimed at promoting trade byremoving progressively but in a differ-entiated geographical manner, tariffbarriers and non-tariff barriers within

32

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE OIC MEMBERSTATES

ECONOMY, FINANCE & INVESTMENT

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regional economic groupings. Global trade in transportation reachedin 2010 a value of U.S. $ 871.3 billionagainst U.S. $ 768 billion in 2009 rep-resenting a growth by 12% while that ofthe OIC countries in 2010 totalled $80.2 billion against U.S. $ 68.5 billion in2009 representing an increase by14.6%. Transport trade of the OICMember States represents approxi-mately 9.2% of the world trade in trans-portation. The increase in the value oftrade in transport services is due to thesoaring logistics costs in the interna-tional arena that are correlated with theprice of fuel exports, therefore, globaltransportation services in 2010 totaledU.S $ 782.8 billion and imports U.S $959.7 billion. The main exporters of transport servi-ces within the OIC by order of impor-tance are: Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia,Kuwait, Iran, Indonesia, Kazakhstan,Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Tunisiawith approximately more than 81.2% oftotal exports of transport services ofthe OIC Member States. Moreover, the major importers of trans-portation services by order of impor-tance: Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Ara-bia, Turkey, Uganda, Egypt, Nigeria,Iran, Kuwait and Pakistan, which haveprovided 71.2% of imports of trans-portation services in 2010. The mainOIC countries, which experienced atrade surplus of transport services are:Egypt, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan andDjibouti and the main countries, whichexperienced a deficit are: Indonesia,Saudi Arabia, Uganda, Malaysia, Nige-ria, Iraq, Bangladesh and Pakistan witha deficit for each country of more thanU.S. $ 2 billion.

PERFORMANCE OF THE TRANS-PORT AND LOGISTICS OF THE OICMEMBER STATESLogistics Performance Index (LPI) The overall rating of the logistics per-formance index of the World Bankreflects the perceptions of the logisticsof a country based on: - the effectiveness of the clearanceprocess by customs and other borderauthorities; - Quality of transport infrastructure and

information technology for logistics; - the ability to organize internationalexpeditions at an affordable cost; the competence of the local logisticsindustry; - the ability to track and locate interna-tional cargo; - logistics costs at the national level(transport) and on-time delivery;- competence in the provision of servic-es related to inputs needed by thelogistics staff; - Extent of practices that may affectlogistics performance and trends.Taking into account all these criteria,we note that some Member States areamong the highest ranked, we canmention among others, during the pe-riod 2004 to 2010: United ArabEmirates, Malaysia, Bahrain, Lebanon,Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar,Oman and Senegal with an indexabove 2.8 considered efficient. On theother hand, those countries, whichshowed a delay in the development oflogistics services; and whose LPI isbelow 2.5 are the following: Somalia,Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Iraq,Sudan, Burkina Faso and Afghanistanwhose infrastructure should be reno-vated and maintained mostly intercon-nected with neighbouring networks. Itshould be noted that 23 OIC countriesexceed the average of 2.62. Potential infrastructures It should be noted that the OICMember States have relatively a highpotential in terms of road and airportinfrastructure. According to severalinternational sources (IMF, WorldBank, UN Statistics, OECD, February2011), these facilities are as follows: atthe level of rail lines, the richest coun-tries are: Kazakhstan, Turkey, Indone-sia, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt,Mozambique, Algeria and Nigeria hold70% of these lines, with respect toroads, the following countries accountfor the largest share: Turkey, Indo-nesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, SaudiArabia, Nigeria, Iran, Algeria, Libya andMalaysia 60% of available roads, eachexceeding more than 100.000 km, fordynamic ports and terminals, weinclude countries like Turkey, Indo-nesia, Algeria, Malaysia, Libya, Egypt,

T u n i s i a ,United ArabE m i r a t e s ,Kazakhstanand Moroccowhich drainseveral con-

tainers per year. Index of the World Economic Forum(Enabling Trade Index (ETI) 2010) The performance index of transportinfrastructure and communication iscalculated on the basis of a survey ofthe sector professionals on a scalefrom 1 (low) to 7 (high). It takes ac-count of: - The availability and quality of trans-port infrastructure which measures thestatus and quality of transport infra-structure such as the density of air-ports, the percentage of paved roads,their congestion, … - Availability and quality of transportservices which takes into account theservices available for shipments toreach their destinations, the overallefficiency of the posts, the competenceof the logistics sector (e.g. transportoperators, customs brokers), thedegree of use of ICT in shipping man-agement and the role of these tech-nologies to facilitate clearance. Out of a sample of 125 countries, 35OIC countries have been the subject ofthis investigation and which hasreached the following conclusions: - Transport and CommunicationsInfrastructure: countries which havethe most invested and whose index ishigher than 4 in this sector are: theUAE (5.08), Malaysia (4.95), Bahrain(4.65), Kazakhstan (4.13), SaudiArabia (4.10), Qatar (4.08) and Oman(4.04) and the less affluent are Chad,Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Came-roon and Bangladesh most of whichare landlocked countries. - Availability and quality of transportinfrastructure in the followingMember States: the United ArabEmirates, Malaysia, Bahrain, Qatar,Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Oman, SaudiArabia, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Alge-ria, Turkey and Kuwait with an indexhigher than 4. Availability and quality of transport

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services whose the index is more than3.75, these are Malaysia, UAE, Oman,Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan,Jordan, Bahrain, Turkey, Egypt, Sene-gal and Benin, whose airport and truck-ing services have been modernized.Among the qualities of transport infra-structure, we have selected the follow-ing relevant indexes: the quality of airtransport infrastructure, rail, roads,ports, ease of loading, the efficiency ofcustoms procedures and import/exportand this reveals the following results ofsample of 35 OIC countries: - Quality of air transport infrastructure:the OIC Member States, which areranked by this index higher than 5/7are considered excellent are: UAE,Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia, Tunisia,Jordan, Egypt Azerbaijan, Oman,Saudi Arabia and Turkey have compar-ative advantages in comparison withother Member Countries through in-vestment allocated to this sector; - Quality of rail infrastructure: the qual-ity is still less efficient than air trans-port, but some countries have madeefforts to have a quality index higherthan 3/7, these are: Malaysia, Tunisia,Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Morocco,UAE , Egypt, Tajikistan, Pakistan andSaudi Arabia; - Quality of roads: road quality exceedsthan of the rails in the OIC countries,the best ranked countries with respectto roads quality and whose indexexceeds 4/7 are: UA Emirates, Oman,Bahrain, Malaysia, Tunisia, SaudiArabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Turkeyand The Gambia; - Quality of ports: the quality of theports is similar to that of roads, theindex of the following countries is high-er than 4/7: UAE, Bahrain, Malaysia,Oman, Qatar, Côte dʼIvoire, Tunisia,Saudi Arabia, The Gambia, Jordan,Senegal, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Morocco,Kuwait and Pakistan; - Easy loading: it is linked to effectivecoordination of shipments of variousships that dock in a country with eightother partner countries in relation to theLPI. The index varies between 1 and 5.Therefore, the Member States whoseindex is higher than 3/5 are consideredefficient, in other words those provided

with modern handling equipment,these are: United Arab Emirates,Malaysia, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Turkey,Kyrgyzstan, Bahrain, Jordan, Azerbai-jan, Kuwait, Uganda and Bangladesh; Effectiveness of Customs: Customsplay a key role in facilitating cross-bor-der commercial transactions; the moretransactions are efficient, the lesscosts rise because it lowers the costsof detention of ships and trucks orgoods stored in airports or ports.Related services are: Audit andInspection of goods (price, quantity,ingredients, hygiene, origin, destina-tion, separation), tax audit and tax ...This index varies between 1 and 7. Themain countries with an index higherthan 4/7, and even with efficient cus-toms services, which are in generalhighly automated are the following:United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, SaudiArabia, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Malaysia,Albania, Jordan, Oman, Tunisia,Pakistan and Indonesia; Effectiveness of export-import pro-cedures: This composite index reflectsthe effects of the effectiveness of thereporting process at border posts, theperiod for importing goods from ordertaking to final destination, the numberof import-export document (customsdeclaration, port and banking docu-ments, import licenses), import costsand export container (cargo handlingduring loading and unloading andinspection of ships), the time for export(days, loading). The index variesbetween 1 and 7. The countries mostsuccessful in terms of import-exportprocedures and whose index exceeds4/7 are: United Arab Emirates, SaudiArabia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Egypt,Tunisia, Indonesia, Qatar, Turkey,Senegal, Jordan, Albania, Morocco,The Gambia, Guyana, Pakistan,Kuwait, Bangladesh, Oman, Syria,Algeria and Benin. Connectivity rate of the OIC MemberStates (UNCTAD): In order supply follows demand fortransport and vice versa, it is worthbuilding on port infrastructure andmodern information technology andcommunication that will link nationaland international shipping services to

improve connectivity in the country vis-à-vis its partners. Access to world mar-kets depends heavily on the existenceof regular and effective transport links,especially in regular shipping lines forthe import and export of manufacturedgoods and raw materials. It is in this context that in recent yearsUNCTAD calculates the connectivityindex of regular shipping lines whichaims to determine the level of integra-tion in a country's existing global net-work of shipping. It takes account of sixbasic elements: the effectiveness ofthe clearance process, the quality ofinfrastructure related to transport andtrade facility to determine competitiveprices for shipping, the quality of logis-tics services, monitoring and batchtraceability, the frequency of shipmentsand on time delivery. It also takes intoaccount the number of (20TEU) ves-sels national or international availablein the countryAccording to this index, which variesbetween 1 and 100, the main countriesof the OIC with improved maritime con-nectivity (> 30) with their trading part-ners in 2010 are: Malaysia, UAE, SaudiArabia, Morocco, Oman, Egypt, Tur-key, Algeria, Iran and Lebanon.

CONCLUSION All indexes indicate that some OICMember States are endowed with sig-nificant performance in logistics andtransport; major projects are underwayat national and regional levels tostrengthen the sector, whether withinthe OIC, or the African Union, ASEAN,GCC, ECO and other regional group-ings. It is worth noting that some coun-tries like the UAE, Malaysia, Bahrain,Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkeyand Iran can serve as a model of logis-tics development for the OIC MemberStates to provide assistance andexpertise to other countries through

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TRADE REGULATIONS & AGREEMENTS

financial assistance from theIDB Group, AfDB and theAsian Development Bank(AsDB) in collaboration withnational and regional banks

of the concerned countries.Regional dialogue is impera-tive because some projectsfocus on the same sections(road stretches etc…)

whether in Central Asia,Africa or the Middle East,which should focus on theways and means to imple-ment them together and

minimize operating costs. �

By SALL Mamoudou Bocar

The United Nation Develop-ment Programme (UNDP)and Morocco, Senegal,Mauritania and Gabon sign-ed, on September 26th,2011 in Rabat, a Memo-radum of Understanding(MoU) to promote South-South co-operation. TheMemorandum aims at creat-ing a network of exchangesbased on the expertise of

signatory countries as wellas on demand in terms ofsupport for the process ofdecentralization and co-ordi-nation of bilateral co-opera-tion.Morocco, in addition to itsstrategic geographic posi-tion and given its experiencein the field of regionalisation,decentralisation and localplanning, will play a signifi-

cant role as part of imple-menting the Memorandum,according to a statement ofthe UNDP. Under this docu-ment, the signatory partieswill support decentralisationprocesses, vehicles for localsustainable developmentand the fight against pover-ty. The Memorandum alsoprovides for exchanging thebest practices in terms of

decentralization and localdevelopment, notably in thearea of participative plan-ning, strengthening of thecapacities of elected officialsand technicians of local col-lectivities as well as man-agement of local affairs andservices. �

UNDP, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania and Gabon sign MoU to promote South-South co-operation

Canadian Ministers of Inter-national Trade, Ed Fast, andAgriculture and Agri-Food,Gerry Ritz, has welcomedthe first round of free tradenegotiations with Morocco,held in Ottawa on October11-14. “A trade agreement withMorocco will help Canadianbusinesses across a rangeof sectors including manu-

facturing, agriculture andservices industries,” Ritzsaid in a statement postedon the government website“Foreign Affairs and Inter-national Trade Canada.”“It will also create jobs, pros-perity and opportunity forfamilies who rely on thesesectors for their livelihood,”added the Minister.In 2010, Canada-Morocco

bilateral merchandise tradetotalled $328.2 million.Morocco is already an im-portant export destinationfor Canadian merchandiseexports, importing $186.9million in Canadian goods in2010,” said the samesource. “While Canada andMorocco already enjoy longstanding cultural and linguis-tic ties, closer economic ties

will deepen this relationshipand enhance trade andinvestment opportunities inboth countries,” said Mini-ster Fast.“I am particularly pleasedthat a free trade agreementwith Morocco would beCanadaʼs first with anAfrican country”, said Mini-ster Ritz. �

Canada welcoming the first round of free trade negotiations with Morocco

The Azerbaijani State Cus-toms Committee works overconcluding the intergovern-mental agreements withseveral countries, the headof the Azerbaijani State

Customs Committee's de-partment Dilavar Farzaliyevsaid in his article publishedin the official press onDecember 3rd, 2011."The agreements are plan-

ned to be signed in the cus-toms sphere with Mace-donia, Kuwait, Jordan, Hun-gary and some other coun-tries," he said. He alsoadded that the intergovern-

mental agreements on co-operation and mutual assis-tance in customs spherewere signed with Argentina,UAE, and Serbia in 2011. �

Azerbaijan develops several agreements in customs sphere with different countries, among whichOICʼs

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Agreement setting up Morocco's tourism investment authority signed in RabatIt was reported on Novem-ber 24th, 2011 that HM theKing, Mohammed VI, ac-companied by HRH PrinceMoulay Rachid, the Emir ofQatar, Sheikh Hamad binKhalifa al-Thani, the CrownPrince of Abu Dhabi andDeputy Supreme Comman-der of the UAE ArmedForces, Sheikh Mohammedbin Zayed bin Sultan AlNahyan, and Kuwait's Fi-nance Minister, SheikhMustafa Jassim Al Shamali,presided over, in Rabat, thesigning ceremony of a part-nership agreement to set upMoroccoʼs Tourism Invest-ment Authority.The Director General of theMoroccan Fund for TourismDevelopment, Tarik Senhaji,

made a presentation duringthe signing ceremony tohighlight the importance ofpartnership between Moroc-co and Qatar, Kuwait andthe United Arab Emirates inthe field of tourism. He saidthat the significant contribu-tion of the Gulf brotherlycountries to the MoroccanFund for Tourism Develop-ment mirrors, the mutualtrust existing between Mo-rocco and these countriesand confirms Morocco as anattractive market for tourisminvestment. This partnershipagreement, he said, will adda special impetus to invest-ment in Moroccoʼs tourismsector. Senhaji also high-lighted the positive results ofMoroccoʼs ambitious touri-

sm development strategydubbed, Vision-2010, laun-ched in 2001.The screening of a videofilm showcasing the missionof the new tourism Authorityalso marked the ceremony.Afterwards, the MoroccanEconomy and FinanceMinister, the President ofthe Board of Directors ofHassan II Fund for Econo-mic and Social Develop-ment, the CEO of QatarHolding, the President of theBoard of Directors of Aabarinvestments (Abu Dhabi)and the President of theBoard of Directors of the Al-Ajial Investment Fund si-gned the partnership agree-ment to set up the MoroccanAuthority for Tourism Invest-

ment.HM the King, Mohammed VIand his guests were later onbriefed on two tourism de-velopment projects to beimplemented in Ouarzazate(530km south-east of Ra-bat) and Oukaimden, nearMarrakesh.The first project to be carriedout in Ouarzazate, a worldfamed destination for film-makers, will include hotels,a museum, golf courses aswell as a center for cinemarelated activities. Under thesecond project, a skiingresort will be built in Ou-kaimden including hotels,residence compounds, aconference center, a theatercomplex, restaurants andgolf resorts. �

Sudan and Qatar signed sixagreements at the closingsession of Sudan-QatarEconomic Forum: four co-operation agreements andtwo memoranda of under-standing, the Sudanesenewspaper "al-Ray al-A 'Mr"reported on December 5th,2011.These agreements includean agreement on the estab-

lishment of a Joint BusinessCouncil, a banking co-oper-ation agreement, an agree-ment between the Sudane-se Ministry of Agricultureand the Agricultural HassadQatar Company, and a co-operation agreement bet-ween the Sudanese AjialMedical Company and Qa-tari Medical Solutions.A memorandum of under-

standing on mining wasalso signed between theSudanese Ministry of Minesand the Mining Company ofQatar as well as an MOUbetween the Sudanese Utili-ties Committee and the agri-cultural Hassad Qatar Com-pany.The two countries alsoagreed to assign to the JointMinisterial Committee a hi-

gher profile. The committeewill now be co-chaired bythe the Sudanese First VicePresident and the CrownPrince of Qatar.According to Sudanese offi-cial statistics, Qatari invest-ments in Sudan amount to $1.7 billion, covering 23 proj-ects in various sectors �

Sudan and Qatar sign six cooperation agreements and protocols

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Forty Members of the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation (OIC) are Mem-bers of the World Trade Organization(WTO), fourteen have applied foraccession and 3 have not applied foracceding to the WTO. As for thosewhich have applied for accession to theWTO, we can quote:. AfghanistanAfghanistanʼs Working Group wasestablished at the General Councilmeeting on 13 December 2004.Afghanistanʼs Memorandum on itsForeign Trade Regime was circulatedin March 2009.The Members of the Working Groupheld their first meeting on 31st January2011 in order to carry out a specialreview of Afghanistanʼs trade regime.During this meeting, the integration ofAfghanistan into the multilateral tradingsystem was supported as well as therequested additional information tofacilitate the Negotiations Group work. . AlgeriaAlgeriaʼs Working Group was estab-lished on 17 June 1987 and met for thefirst time in April 1998. Revised marketaccess offers on goods and serviceswere circulated in November 2007.The multilateral examination of the for-eign trade regime was carried out onthe basis of a draft Working PartyReport. The latest revision of thisreport was circulated in June 2006. The tenth meeting of the WorkingGroup took place in January 2008. Onthis occasion, Members have acknowl-edged Algeria's progress in reformingits trade regime in order to be fullycompatible with the WTO rules.Despite these new pieces of legisla-tion, members pointed out that sub-stantial work still remained to beaccomplished regarding the followingissues: State-owned enterprises,hydrocarbons pricing, trading rightsand commercial presence, taxationregime (VAT and other consumers

taxes), export subsidies, SPS, TBT,and TRIPS.Bilateral negotiations on marketaccess of goods/services Members have urged Algeria to finaliseits ongoing bilateral negotiations onmarket access for goods and services.Algeria has completed negotiationswith Brazil, Uruguay, Cuba, Venezuelaand Switzerland. It still needs to con-clude negotiations with the EC, Ca-nada, Malaysia, Turkey, the Republicof Korea, Ecuador, the US, Norway,Australia, and Japan. . AzerbaijanAzerbaijanʼs Working Group wasestablished on 16 July 1997 and thefirst meeting of the Working Group washeld in June 2002. Bilateral negotia-tions on market access are underwayon the basis of revised offers in goodsand services. Multilateral work hasbeen carried out on the basis of a fac-tual summary of points raised sinceDecember 2008. The Factual Sum-mary was last revised in September2010.The working group on the accession ofAzerbaijan held its eight meeting on18th October 2010 to carry on thereview of the economic and commer-cial regime of this country. Membersfavourably took note of the progressrecently achieved at the legislativelevel and pointed out that it was impor-tant to keep on intensifying negotia-tions on market access.Negotiations on market accessAzerbaijan signed an Agreement withGeorgia in April 2010. This Agreementis being negotiated with the EuropeanUnion.. IraqIraq made its application for accessionto the WTO on 30th September 2004,under Article XII. A Working Groupchaired by Mr Guillermo Valles Galmez(Uruguay) was created at the meetingof the General Council held on 13th

December 2004. Iraq submitted itsMemorandum on the Foreign TradeRegime in September 2005.The Working Group met for the firsttime in May 2007. Members met for thesecond time in April 2008 to continuethe examination of Iraqʼs foreign traderegime. On this occasion, Members ofthe working group supported Iraq'srapid accession to the WTO andrequested more information on Iraq'spricing policy, investment rules, importlicences, customs law, state tradingenterprises, regulations on tariffs, freezones and telecom licences. Bilateral negotiationsIraq has met with several members onthe sidelines of the Working Party.Market access negotiations will startonce Iraq tables its initial offers ongoods and services. There have beensome discussions but no concrete pro-posals for the moment.Technical assistanceMembers and international organisa-tions have been providing technicalassistance to Iraq. The Chairman ofthe Working Party, Claudia Uribe,Ambassador for Colombia, has urgedmembers to continue and step up thissupport. . IranThe General Council established aworking group to examine the applica-tion of the Islamic Republic of Iran on26 May 2005. The Islamic Republic ofIran submitted its Memorandum onForeign Trade Regime in November2009. The Working Group has notyet met.It should be noted in this regard thatthe Iranian application, which datesback to September 1996, has until thenbeen deferred 21 times by the GeneralCouncil since May 2001, as a result ofthe veto of the United States ofAmerica. . KazakhstanKazakhstanʼs Working Group was

37

THE ACCESSION STATUS OF THE OIC MEMBER STATES TO THE WTO AND ICDT’ S ASSISTANCE TO MEMBER COUNTRIES WITHIN THE MULTILATERALTRADE NEGOTIATIONS

INTERNATIONAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

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established on 6 February 1996.Bilateral market access negotiationsgoing on. The latest revision of theWorking Group Draft Report was circu-lated in June 2008. The Working Partyheld its tenth meeting in July 2008.. LebanonLebanon's Working Group was estab-lished on 14th April 1999. The aide-memoire on the Foreign Trade Regimewas circulated in June 2001 and theanswers to issues concerning the aide-memoire were circulated in June 2002.Multilateral work was carried out on thebasis of a revised draft Working GroupReport that was circulated in October2009. Bilateral market access negotia-tions were conducted on the basis ofrevised offers on goods and services. The Seventh meeting of the workinggroup was held in October 2009.. LibyaLibya deposited an official applicationfor accession to the WTO on 25th No-vember 2001 (Doc.WT/ACC/LBY/1).The WTO Members agreed on 27thJuly 2004 to start negotiations withLibya regarding its membership. Libya has not submitted yet the aide-memoir on its foreign trade system andthe working group has not met yet.. SudanThe Working Group on the accessionof Sudan was established on 25October 1994. Sudan's Memorandumon the Foreign Trade Regime was cir-culated in January 1999. The WorkingGroup held its second meeting inMarch 2004. A Factual Summary ofPoints Raised was circulated informal-ly in September 2004. Bilateral marketaccess negotiations are underway onthe basis of revised offers on goodsand services.. TajikistanThe Working Group on the accessionof Tajikistan was established by theGeneral Council on 18 July 2001.Multilateral work is carried out on thebasis of revised Elements of the DraftWorking Party Report. Bilateral marketaccess negotiations are underway onthe basis of revised offers in goods andservices. The Working Group held itssixth meeting in July 2011. On thisoccasion, Members reviewed reformsundertaken by Tajikistan as regards its

trade regime and evaluated theprogress made on the bilateral marketaccess negotiations for goods andservices.Negotiations on market access forgoods and servicesTalks are underway between Tajikistanand 17 other WTO members.. UzbekistanThe Working Group on the accessionof Uzbekistan was established on21 December 1994. Uzbekistan sub-mitted its Memorandum on the ForeignTrade Regime in October 1998 and theFirst meeting of the Working Groupwas held in July 2002. Bilateral marketaccess negotiations are conducted onthe basis of initial offers in goods andservices circulated in September 2005.The Working Group held its third meet-ing in October 2005.. SyriaSyriaʼs request for accession was noti-fied to the Director General of the WTOon 30th October 2001 (WT/ACC/-SYR/1). On 4th May 2010, the GeneralCouncil agreed to establish a WorkingGroup to examine the accession appli-cation submitted by the Arab Republicof Syria to the WTO.The Arab Republic of Syria has notsubmitted yet its Aide-Memoire on itsforeign trade regime.. YemenThe General Council established aWorking Party to examine Yemen'srequest for accession in July 2000.Yemen's Memorandum on the ForeignTrade Regime was circulated inNovember 2002, and the First meetingof the Working Party took place inNovember 2004. Multilateral work iscarried out on the basis of a reviseddraft Working Party Report circulated inJune 2010. Bilateral market accessnegotiations are underway on the basisof revised offers in goods and services.The Working Party held its eighthmeeting in September 2010.. ComorosOn 9th October 2007, the GeneralCouncil set up a Working Party incharge of examining the accessionapplication of Comoros to the WTO. Itallowed its Chairman to appoint theChairman of the Working Party in con-sultation with Members and the

Representatives of Comoros (Docu-ment WT/ACC/COM/1).Comoros has not yet submitted aMemorandum on the Foreign TradeRegime. The Working Group has notmet.

It is worth underlining at this point thatthe access conditions of the new appli-cants have become excessive. In fact,the candidates are subject to morerestraining obligations than those towhich the WTO Members are subject(called the WTO-plus obligations) andthe special and differential treatment isnot accorded to developing countriesduring their accession to the WTO.It is therefore important for the OICCountries to defend the idea of allow-ing appropriate transition periods toacceding countries. Likewise, marketaccess should be adapted to the eco-nomic development of the candidateapplying for accession. The adhesionto multilateral agreements, such as theAgreement on government procure-ment and the Agreement on Civil avia-tion should not be considered as a pre-requisite for accession to the WTO. It isalso important to simplify and to speedup the accession procedures applica-ble to the LDCs.

The Islamic Centre for Develop-ment of Trade (I.C.D.T) mandatedin collaboration with other OICInstitutions to follow-up the multi-lateral trade negotiations organ-ised by the WTO regarding the OICMember States Accession to theWTO OrganizationIn order to facilitate the accession ofthe OIC Member States to the WTOand assist the OIC MemberCountries in their negotiations, theOIC Secretary General and theStanding Committee for Economicand Commercial Cooperation forIslamic Countries (COMCEC) man-dated the Islamic Centre for Devel-opment of Trade (I.C.D.T) to follow-up, in collaboration with the IslamicDevelopment Bank Group (IDB), themultilateral trade negotiations organ-ised by the World Trade Organi-zation.

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Within this framework, I.C.D.T sub-mits on a regular basis, progressreports on these negotiations to theCOMCECʼs annual meetings, the OICIslamic Commission for Economic,Cultural and Social Affairs and theannual OIC Council of Foreign AffairsMinisters (ICFM).Likewise, the Centre works outreports and studies in preparation ofthe WTO Ministerial Meetings in orderto shed light on the positions of theIslamic Countries at this meetings andidentify a common platform to co-ordi-nate their stances.Besides, the Centre organises, in col-laboration with the IDB Group andother institutions, seminars and work-shops on the Multilateral TradeNegotiations with a view to contribut-ing to the adoption by the OICMember States of common stancesas regards these negotiations. Wecan quote, among others, the follow-ing:- Round Table on the WTO Negotia-tions: What Stakes for the OICMember States? (Casablanca, Sep-

tember 2007);- Inter-regional Workshop on “Geo-graphical Indications” (Ankara, 3-4 April2008);- Training Seminar on the “Use ofTRIPS flexibilities by DCS provided forin the TRIPS Agreement” (Casablanca,9-12 June 2008);- Seminar on “the proliferation of region-al and bilateral trade agreements on theMultilateral Trade System” (Casablanca16-19 February 2010);- Regional Seminar on the “Competi-tion Policy in the OIC Member States:Present Status and Prospects» (Tunis22-24 February 2010);- Seminar on “the proliferation of region-al and bilateral trade agreements andtheir impacts on the Multilateral TradingSystem” (Abu Dhabi, UAE, 17-19 May2010);- Seminar on Trade Facilitation amongArab Countries and their integration intothe Multilateral Trading System (Da-mascus, Syria 6th to 8th July 2010);- Conference on needs assessment ofthe OIC Member States in the field ofCompetition law and policy (Istanbul,

21-22 November 2011).With regard to the WTO multilateraltrade negotiations, ICDT will continueits co-ordination with the IDB Groupwith a view to helping the OICCountries during the WTO negotia-tions. Technical assistance will alsobe ensured for the benefit of theMember States, particularly the LeastDe-veloped ones, in order to providethem with consultancy and expertisein the negotiations field.Moreover, ICDT is planning to organ-ise several seminars and meetings tothe benefit of the OIC Countries so asto make an assessment of the negoti-ationsʼ stakes and their impact onboth the trade policies and theMember Statesʼ economies.Popularisation actions will be carriedout regarding new negotiations the-mes such as competition policy, tradefacilitation, electronic commerce etc…These activities will involve the partic-ipation of both the public and privatesectorsʼ representatives of the OICCountries. �

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TRADE SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS

VisionThe vision of Morocco Export based ontwo axes: first, the implementation ofthe national export promotion called"Maroc Export Plus"; second the tar-geting of promotional activities.- Implementation of the strategy"Maroc Export Plus": a pragmaticapproach structured in different pha-ses with a view to:* Adjust and enhance the measures forthe definition of national sectorialstrategies (eg, pharmaceuticals, planHalieutis, ...).* Prioritise measures in order of impor-tance and impacts expected to spendmore time in implementing strategicand high-impact measures.* Organise and mobilise all stake-hold-ers in the implementation of the strate-gy through the signing of a contractprogram.

- Targeting of promotional activities:* The activities planned by "MarocExport" focus mainly on the strategypriority areas, namely food & seafood,textiles & leather, electrical & electron-ic items, automotive and off-shoring.The niche sectors are also subject topromotional activities.* The conduct of advocacy is donethrough a public - private partnership inco-operation with business associa-tions and economic operators.MissionEstablished with the aim to foster thegrowth of Moroccan exports, "MarocExport" is in charge of promotingexports of all industrial and artisanalproducts, as well as agricultural oragro-industrial products, which are notthe jurisdiction of other governments ororganisations.

Strategic Objectives* Strengthen Morocco's position in thetraditional Moroccan markets,* Increase exports share with highadded value,* Diversify the exports geography andseek new opportunities,* Contribute to increase the exportersor potential exporters commercialaggressiveness and competitiveness,* Project a better image of Morocco topromote the industrial and economicpotential of the Country,* Ensure the functioning of a foreignmarket information and intelligence,* Develop and promote co-operativerelationships between the Moroccaneconomic operators and their foreigncounterparts. �

The Moroccan Agency for InvestmentDevelopment was established with aview to giving a special advancedinvestment in Morocco by organisingcommunication campaigns to promoteinvestment opportunities in the Coun-try.The Moroccan Agency for InvestmentDevelopment performs this action inco-operation with government authori-ties and other public or private bodies.It has the ability to organise all types ofevents, including exhibitions, confer-ences, seminars, fairs... that are likelyto promote investment and ensure co-ordination at the national and interna-tional levels. In addition, the agencymust also ensure the monitoring of the

various measures adopted by othercountries in this respect. This last taskassigned to AMDI aims to ensure thedevelopment and investment promo-tion in order to establish the competi-tive situation of Morocco. In addition,the agency will also have the task todefine all performance indicators relat-ing to investments, through the produc-tion and analysis of various indicators.It will also be brought to publish theresults of these tests. The developmentof business parks dedicated to theindustry, commerce and new technolo-gies sectors falls also within the com-petence of the Moroccan Agency forInvestment Development.Therefore, this new agency should

specifically carry out the State's prelim-inary studies for the identification andselection of areas for the implementa-tion of investment programs in theabove mentioned areas.Regarding the the AMDI organisationalstructure, it is administered by a Boardof Directors and managed by a CEO. Infact, the Board is composed of theState Representatives, Presidents ofChambers Federations, the Presidentof the General Confederation ofEnterprises of Morocco (CGEM) andthree persons appointed by the admin-istration, given their expertise in thefield of investment. �

The Moroccan Agency for Investment Development (AMDI)A new agency for investment promotion

“Maroc Export”The Bridge to the World

“Maroc Export” (Moroccan Centre for Export Promotion), an operational instrument for implementinggovernment policy in supporting the SME / SMI exporter, is a public institution established by DahirNo. 1-76-385 of December 17, 1976. Endowed with legal personality and financial autonomy, it isplaced under the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

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Istisnaʼa Corporation Ltd.


KAZAKHSTAN

Our company is a consultancydevoted to the promotion of Islamicfinance in Kazakhstan. It has partic-ipated almost in every milestone ofthe development of this industrywithin the country. The Company has establishednumerous reliable contacts with rep-resentatives of a variety number ofindustries throughout the country. We seek buyers for the grain prod-ucts of our large producers. As youmay know this year for Kazakhstanhas been very productive for crops.We do have a large amount ofcrops on grain elevetors and ware-houses. Kindly find our specifica-tions and prices for the grain prod-ucts below:LLP “Istisnaʼa Corporation” providesthe following commercial offer:- Supplier: LLP “IstisnaʼaCorporation”- Product: wheat soft 3,4,5 class,barley 2 class;- Minimum quality indicators: Gluten(25-28%), - Natural weight, not less than 730g/l; - Humidity, not more than 14%;- Weed admixture, not more than2%; - Grain admixture, not more than4,5%; - Protein, not less than 12%. The remaining quality indicators arein accordance with the requirementsof ST RK 1046-2008 (Kazakhstan).Terms of delivery and product costfor one metric ton:- DAF st. SaryAgash (Incoterms2010): *Wheat soft 3 class available: $200- 4 class: $130 - 5 class: $120 ; *barley 2 class: $185- DAF st.Tobol:*Wheat soft 3 class: $170 - 4class: $115 -5 class: $105 ;*barley 2 class: $155 ;- DAF st. Petropavlovsk: Wheat soft

Open Joint-Stock Company"Asbotrubnity Zavod "Activity: Building, Marine and CivilIndustries and related product.Description: Production of new kindsof building materials.Field of activity: Production of asbo-cement tubes of 150 and 100 mms.The purpose of the project is to or-ganise production on issue of facadefillings on cement basis.The brief description of the project:- Acquisition and equipment installa-tion on production of facade fillings.- Realisation of starting-up andadjustment works.- Acquisition of material resourcesfor production of facade fillings oncement basis with the usage of localraw.- The implementation of the project

TAJIKISTAN

MALAYSIA

3 class: $165 - 4 class: $115 - 5class: $105 *barley 2 class: $155- FOB port Aktau: *Wheat soft 3 class: $200 - 4class: $115 -5 class: $140 ;*barley 2 class: $200.Product availability:- 1) wheat soft 3 class available200,000 tons- 2) wheat soft 4,5 class available500,000 tons - 3) barley 2 class available 50,000tons- start of delivery - 1 week after sign-ing contracts ;- price depends on commoditiesexchange fluctuations valid for 1week starting from 14.11.11.Address:Istisna'a CorporationOffice 203, 12/1 Kunayev St.,Astana, Kazakhstan 010000Tel: 007 7172 707 716Mobile: 007 701 22 444 35; 007 707 22 444 35Skype: anuar.mukhmetovE-mail:[email protected] �

will allow to create an additional work-stations.Proposal to the investors:- Possible forms of co-operation: - Creation of joint venture with foreigninvestors participationAddress:OPEN JOINT-STOCK COMPANY"ASBOTRUBNIY ZAVOD "734017, Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, 205 "A" Fudaki Ave.Tel./fax: (992-37) 224-30-11

MALAYSIA GLOBAL BUSINESSFORUM PROUDLY ANNOUNCES

Strategic Partnership – Malaysia &the Arab WorldFebruary 21st- 22nd , 2012

Malaysia Global Business Forum isbringing you an exciting opportunity toexplore current business opportunitiesin the Arab World. This program willgive you the opportunity to networkwith the representatives of the newand existing government representa-tives while investigating the new sce-narios and how your business cantake advantage of opportunities. Thenatural synergies between Malaysiaand the Arab World can now beexploited for mutual benefit whiledeveloping strong business linkswhich can be forged during this time.

Why attend?

Strategic Partners – Malaysia & theArab World will ensure you as wellknowledge on the current situations.The Strategic Partners – Malaysia &the Arab World will also cover:• Opportunities for Malaysian busi-nesses;• Consider the possibilities;• Network with new and existing gov-ernment representatives;• Access to the Arab MalaysiaChamber of Commerce and see howit is an effective bridge for commerce

Tijaris 122 - 123:Tijaris 107 21/12/03 12:05


TURKEY


UMIT TEKSTIL TASARIM LTD STIActivity: Textiles, Clothing, Leather prod-ucts and related equipment.Description: We are a Garment Ma-nufacturer Company planted in Istan-bul, Turkey.We have been activating for textileindustry since 1998.We would provide the Highest level ofCustomer service to All Textile ProductBuyers from all over the world.With Our Dynamic Team, we do Knit-wears such as T-shirts, Sweatshirts....Our experience is on: Polo shirts,T-shirts, Sweatshirts, Fleece, Baby & Kidwears, Sport wear and some kind ofaccesories as: bags, caps, belts ....etc.We like to make Your design and modelsas your requested standards.We can also make actual preproductionproofs before we run your entire Order.We can supply your textile demandsfrom Our Partner Companies in Turkey.We can Supply Jackets, Rain coats,Towels, Berets, Scarves, Gloves, Pillowand other Textile items.We can guarantee the complete follow-up (development, production, packing,transport and delivery).We encourage you to ask for moredetails on our Products. Our Companywould be happy to provide You with thebest Quality, good pricing and fast ser-vice as possible.Contact person: Mr. Mesut TOK ExportMng.Address:UMIT TEKSTIL TASARIM LTD STITekstilkent Ticaret Merkezi.

Turgut Reis mh.Galeri A 12 blok. No: 27P.O.Box: 34235 Esenler - Istanbul -Turkey - [email protected]@umittextile.comTel: +90 212 438 50 18Fax:+90 212 438 50 17Mobile: 90 532 397 97 96 �

Eden CorporationWe are Exporters and Manufacturersof Wood Furniture and LeatherProducts. We are seeking buyers to establishbusiness relations. For more information, contact:Mizanur RahmanPhone: 880-2-9567912Fax: 880-2-9567912Dhaka, Bangladesh �

BANGLADESH

Middle East Paint FactoryDescription : Middle East PaintFactory offers a full range of prod-ucts in the field of decoration paints& coatings. These products rangeinclude interior & exterior paintsapplication on a variety of surfacessuch as for buildings, office buildingsmosques, shopping malls, hotels,restaurents, villas, new housing com-plex, sports complex...etc.Address:Middle East Paint FactoryJeddah Industrial City Phase-5P.O.Box: 36221 - Jeddah 21419Tel: 6082000 - Fax: 6081339 Email: [email protected] website: www.mepaints.comEmail: [email protected] �

SAUDI ARABIA

MOROCCO

porting:- tools and machines for process-ing and recycling of waste plastic,cardboard, used oil for car en-gines;- polyethylene (PEHD);- lubricating oils for car enginesor through the representation ofthe companies producing thesematerials.Address: 5, Bd Bnou AlWannane, Hay Mohammadi -CasaTel : +212 22 63 50 89 Fax : +212 22 63 50 67Email: [email protected] �

and positive development betweenMalaysia and the Arab World;• Identify possible investors from theArab World into Malaysia

For more information, you are invited tovisit our website: www.malaysiaglobal-businessforum.comFor queries on business matching ses-sions please contact: - [email protected] or - [email protected] �

IRANDELIJAN SEPID SANGOur Iranian stone factory “sepidsang Delijan” is a manufacturerand exporter of our collection ofproducts which include: Marble,Travertine...Address:Delijan Sepid Sang Co.Delijan industrial Town,Delijan city, Markazi province, IranTel: +98 866 4443301Fax: +98 21 44305049Website: www.sepidsang.com.

ASLA PISHRO CO. LTDWe are one of the most experi-enced and reliable exporters of dryfruits and nuts from Iran: pistachio,raisins, almond and figs.Address: N°104 Kashani blvdP.O.Box 14665-1385,Tehran- IranTel: +98-21-44079691Fax: +98-21-44058193Email: [email protected];[email protected] �

Environmental Technology(processing and recycling of wasteplastic)Description : we are interested in im-

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The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) wasfounded on February 17th, 1989 whenthe treaty establishing the Union wassigned by five heads of States inMarrakech.The Marrakech Summit was precededby a meeting held by the five Maghrebheads of States in Zeralda in Algeria onJune 10th, 1988 during which it wasdecided to establish a Main Commit-tee in charge of defining ways andmeans allowing the creation of a Unionbetween the five Arab Maghreb States.This great Commission establishedsubsequently the AMU Work Program-me in the short and medium terms.In addition to the signing of the Treaty,the Summit adopted a MarrakechDeclaration on the establishment of theUMA and the Work Programme of theUnion.Subsequently, six summits were held,respectively:- in Tunis on 21-23 January 1990- in Algiers on 21-23 July 1990- in Ras Lanouf (Libya) on 10-11 March1991- in Casablanca (Morocco) on 15-16September 1991- in Nouakchott 10-11 November 1992.- in Tunis on 2-3 April 1994.During these summits, the Council

Chairman has adopted a number ofresolutions among which are:- the completion of the structures of theAMU as provided by the statement ofincorporation,- The adoption of the Maghreb conven-tions (numbering 36) with interest in avariety of sectors,- The adoption of work programs initi-ated by the AMU.The treaty establishing the AMU hashad the following objectives:- The consolidation of fraternal relation-ships that bind the member states andtheir peoples, ensuring the well-beingof their communities and defendingtheir rights;- Ensuring the progressive free move-ment of persons, services, goods...between member states;- The adoption of a common policy inall areas. In economic terms, the common policyaims at ensuring industrial develop-ment, agricultural, commercial andsocial development of the memberstates.With the prospect of eventually estab-lishing a Maghreb economic unionbetween the five member states, thefollowing steps have been set:- The establishment of a free trade area

with the dis-mantling ofall tariff andnon tariff bar-riers to tradeamong mem-ber countries;- The imple-mentation ofa customsunion to institute a unified customsarea with the adoption of a commonexternal tariff in relation to the world;- The common market which will guar-antee the integration of the Maghrebeconomies with the lifting of restrictionson the products movement across thenational borders of the member coun-tries. �

Address:

MAGHREB ARAB UNION73, Rue Tensift Agdal Rabat -

Kingdom of Moroco Tel.: 212 537 6813 71/72/73/74

Fax: 212 537 681 [email protected]

The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU)

ENJOY MERZOUGAʼS SAND DUNES IN THESOUTH OF MOROCCO

MEET WITH

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Agadir Agreement (AA) was signed inthe city of Rabat on 25 February, 2004between Egypt, Jordan, Morocco andTunisia.The agreement entered into force onJuly 6th, 2006 after the completion ofthe ratification requirements.The real implementation has been pos-sible since March 27th, 2007, after thepublishing of the customs circulars ofthe four member countries, a market ofmore than 120 million people with acombined domestic product of nearly €200 billion.

- The Agadir Agreement Aims at:* establishing a Free Trade Area inaccordance with the provisions of theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs andTrade of 1994 (GATT)* developing economic activity, sup-porting employment, increasing pro-ductivity and improving living stan-dards within the Member Countries.

* The co-ordination of overall and sec-torial economic policies in the MemberCountries, in particular foreign trade,agriculture, industry, the tax regime,finance, services and customs, toensure conditions for objective compe-tition between the Member Countries.* The approximation of legislationsbetween the Member Countries withthe aim of creating an appropriate cli-mate for economic integration.The AA is in harmony with the Leagueof Arab Statesʼ Charter which supportsmutual Arab co-operation with a view toimplementing the Greater Arab FreeTrade Area (GAFTA).The AA contributes to the objectives ofBarcelona Process concerning theestablishment of the Euro-Mediter-ranean Free Trade Area.The AA is in accordance with the prin-cipals and requirements of the WorldTrade Organization (WTO), which thefour countries are members of.

The AA is open to the ArabMediterranean Countries with two con-ditions :. Association Agreement with the EU.. Member of the League of Arab States.. Arrangements for liberalizing trade:* Industrial products: free* Agricultural and processed agricultur-al products: free* Trade in Services: schedules of com-mitments under the WTO - an opportu-nity to expand the agreement to covertrade in services. �

Agadir Agreement An Agreement establishing a free trade area between the ArabMediterranean Countries

MEET WITH

AGADIR - MOROCCO

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TRADE INFORMATION NETWORK FOR ISLAMIC COUNTRIES (TINIC)

ICDT HAS A VIRTUAL EXHIBITIONICDT HAS A VIRTUAL EXHIBITIONWHICH OFFERS YOU AWHICH OFFERS YOU A

WIDE OPPORTUNITY WIDE OPPORTUNITY TO EXHIBIT YOUR PRODUCTS AND TO EXHIBIT YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ALL OVER THE WORLSERVICES ALL OVER THE WORLDD

www.icdt-oic.org

45

E-COMMERCE

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ICDT, in order to bettermeet the needs andexpectations of the usersof its Documentation Cen-tre, is reorganising its Do-cumentation & Publica-tions Department. The re-organisation of serviceswill involve the improve-ment of documentary pro-ducts developed by theservice with a view to bet-ter satisfy the users. Themethod of value analysiswill intervene in this pro-cess. It will be much moreaccessible than a processof reorganisation of a totalservice and does not re-quire the questioning of aglobal system of humanorganisation. The recon-sideration should be ba-sed on new standards,always with a view to bet-ter matching the product tocustomer needs.The document servicesare organised around sixservices: the availability ofthe documentary fund andresponse to demands, thepublication of digital infor-mation products, reportingof documents by email, thewatching over a particulartheme at request, the lend-ing of books, studies andreports, personalised sup-port to the use of databas-

es or Internet search.With priority given to theresponse to user requests,the Documentation centreoffers services; mainlydocumentaries pull (onlocation, orientation andhelp for research, searchdone for the user, person-alized watching over, bookrents).The services performed inpush are represented bythe electronic publications,reporting documents andemail support for the useof documentation tools.This induces a person-alised service but a re-duced visibility of the doc-umentary centre, mainlycarried by the individualrelationship maintainedwith the user. The questionarisen is whether all poten-tial users call upon theservices of the documen-tary centre, if those whouse it know the full rangeof services possible.Organisation of the Ac-cess to InformationOfficers need to know theholdings they have, toview information of interestquickly, to better exploitthe information productsand access to sources andvarious medias.Organising access to infor-

mation is one of the mis-sions of the centre, includ-ing the dissemination ofinformation and computerdocuments.Therefore, the reorganisa-tion will be phased by theintroduction of computersin order to have a data-base of all media productsand/or received by the do-cumentation Department.Computerisation will opti-mise the public service,internal management andespecially the co-operationwith other document struc-tures: ICC - CMPE (Mo-roccan Center for ExportPromotion) - Al SaoudFoundation, ...).The future system willinclude the following:*Acqusition management,*Periodical management,*Cataloging and retrievalof records,*Documentary researches, *Management of docu-ments circuit,*Proofing and weeding,*Statistics and publica-tions,*Networking Management *Remote consultationAlways to better serve itsusers, the Department in-tends to acquire the follow-ing publications. This list isindicative:

- The monitor of interna-tional trade- International Trade Ma-gazine- Export Class Magazine -International Trade NewsInternational Trade In-coterms 2010|MCI Ma-gazine- Journal of InternationalBusiness Law.- ICC - The world businessorganisation- Federation of Inter-national Trade Associa-tions- International Centre forTrade and SustainableDevelopment- Bridges Review- Bridges Trade BioResReview- “Passerelles Bimes-trielles”- “Passerelles Synthese”- Trade Negotiations In-sights* DOTS of the IMF:www.imf.org* UNDP: Report on HumanDevelopment: www.undp.org* World Bank: www.worldbank.org * Internet subscriptions:http://www.worldoftrade.com/UBIFRANCE. �

46

REORGANISATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLICATIONS & DOCUMENTATION OF ICDT

ICDT’S LIBRARY

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ACTIVITIES OF THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP FOR ENHANCING INTRA-OIC TRADE

The Assessment of the Implementation of the“Executive Programme of the Roadmap for Enhancing

Intra-OIC Trade”

We can observe that ITFCand ICDT are the initiators ofabout 72% of the proposedactivities and projects, andthat the capacity buidingactivities are in the first posi-tion with 35%, followed by

trade facilitation activities with29%, trade promotion activi-ties with 20%, trade financingand development of strategiccommodities activities arelagging behind with 8% ofeach.

In the context of the implementation of the resolutionsrelating to Economic Cooperation of the 3rdExtraordinary Summit of the OIC, particularly, theDeclaration of Makkah Al Mukarramah, the FinalCommuniqué and the Ten-Year Programme of Actionto meet the challenges facing the Islamic Ummah inthe 21st century, a Road Map for Enhancing Intra-OICTrade was elaborated with a view to achieving the tar-get of 20% by 2015. This document, presented underfive headings (Trade Financing, Trade Facilitation,Trade Promotion, Development of Strategic Com-modities and Capacity Building) was submitted to theministers of economy and trade of the OIC membercountries for consideration and approval at the 24thSession of the COMCEC which was held in Istanbul,Republic of Turkey, in October 2008. Additionally, aConsultative Group for Enhancing Intra-OIC Tradecomposed of the General Secretariat of theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), theInternational Islamic Trade Finance Corporation(ITFC), the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade(ICDT), the Islamic Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (ICCI), the Islamic Corporation for theInsurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), theStanding Committee for Economic and CommercialCooperation (COMCEC) Cooperation office, theOrganization of the Islamic Ship-owners Associations(OISA) and the Statistical, Economic and SocialResearch and Training Centre for Islamic Conference(SESRIC) was created. To work out an executive pro-gramme of this Road Map and follow up its implemen-tation, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade(ICDT) in collaboration with the other members of theConsultative Group organised, at ICDTʼs headquartersin Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, the 1st, the 2ndand the 3rd Meetings of OIC Institutions on EnhancingIntra-OIC Trade respectively on February 2009, June2010 and February 2011.

The assessment on the implementation of the“Executive programme of the Roadmap on EnhancingIntra-OIC Trade” from February 2009 to September2011 is as follow:

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Distribution of Planned Activities by Domain (%)

The implementation of the “Executive Programme of the Roadmap forAchieving Intra-OIC Trade Targets”, which is composed of about 217 activi-ties, shows the following:*About 67% of the projects were fully implemented up to September 2011; *16% of the projects are in the process of implementation; *17% of the projects are on stand-by position and waiting for their implemen-tation.

In order to pursue the follow-up of the implementation ofthe remaining activities, theConsultative Group for En-

hancing Intra-OIC Trade willhold its 4th meeting duringyear 2012. �


ACTIVITIES OF THE COMCEC:27TH MINISTERIAL MEETING

The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade attended the 27th Session of the COMCEC held in Istanbul, Republic ofTurkey from October 17th to 20th, 2011. The Centre was represented by. Dr. El Hassane HZAINE, Acting DirectorGeneral and Mamoudou Bocar SALL, Head of Department of Studies. 49 OIC Member States, four observer MemberStates, including 22 Ministers, 13 OIC Organisations and 8 international and regional organisations attended the meet-ing.

27TH MINISTERIAL MEETING OFTHE COMCECMinisterial Meeting (19-20 October2011)The ministerial meeting was held from19 to 20 October 2011 under the chair-manship of HE Mr. Abdullah Gül,President of the Republic of Turkeyand Chairman of COMCEC. In hisspeech, the President welcomed all theparticipants and highlighted the impor-tance of the Economic and Commer-cial Cooperation among OIC MemberStates to achieve the objective of thePAD aiming at raising the proportion of

intra-OIC trade to 20% by 2015. To thisend, he called on Member States notparticipating in the National Coordina-ting Committee (NCC) to sign and rati-fy the the OIC agreements (TPS-OIC,PRETAS, Rules of Origin ...) andSMIIC. He also emphasised the Intra-OIC trade close co-operation in thefield of Agriculture, Transport andTourism.In his speech, HE Prof. Dr EkmeleddinIhsanoglu thanked the Government ofthe Republic of Turkey for hosting thismeeting and for its continuing supportto strengthen the intra-OIC trade,

Economic and Commercial Coopera-tion. He stressed the importance of thesteps provided in the realisation of thePAD, namely, the intra-OIC trade, thefight against poverty, agricultural devel-opment, food security, capacity build-ing and the private sector develop-ment.The heads of Arab regions Delegations(Kuwait), African (Mali) and Asian(Afghanistan) took the floor to thankthe Turkish Government for the hospi-tality extended to delegates, thePresident of the Republic of Turkey,the OIC Secretary General, to the

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COMCEC and to other OIC Institu-tions. They also stressed the impor-tance of strengthening economic coop-eration and intra-OIC trade.The President of the IDB Group, Dr.Ahmed Mohamed Ali, and thePresident of ICCI, Mr. Shaikh SalehBin Abdullah KAMEL delivered speech-es describing the need to raise thelevel of economic cooperation and theintra-OIC trade.In his speech, the President of theUnion of Chambers and CommodityExchanges of Turkey (TOBB) under-lned the importance to increase soli-darity between the OIC Member Statesfor enhancing intra-OIC trade.It should be noted also that the repre-sentative of the Kingdom of Moroccoannounced that his country ratified thePRETAS.The opening ceremony ended withawarding Mr. Abdellatif HAMAM, theCEPEX Chairman, with the IDB'sGroup "Islamic Solidarity Prize forstrengthening intra-OIC trade".The Ministerial Working Session of the27th COMCEC Session was chairedby HE Dr. Cevdet Yilmaz, State Minis-ter of the Republic of Turkey, duringwhich HE Mr. Kemal MADENOGLU

outlined the results of the SeniorOfficials Meeting. Presentations on thetransport of the IDB Group on the cur-rent challenges, trends and perspec-tives of transport in the OIC MemberStates and the Role of Logistics inInternational Trade were made by thePresident of the International Associa-tion of Transport.The Ministers and the Heads of dele-gations expressed their views regard-ing the current situation of transport intheir countries and the need to strengthintra-OIC cooperation in the field oftransport and logistics through thedevelopment of a roadmap for trans-portation.

FIRST EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEMEETING OF THE OIC ACTION PLANFOR COOPERATION WITH CEN-TRAL ASIA (October 18TH, 2011)ICDT participated in the first meeting ofthe Executive Committee of the OICPlan of Action for Cooperation withCentral Asia, held on October 18, 2011with the participation of the OICMember States in Central Asia, theOIC General Secretariat, Institutionssuch as the COMCEC, the IDB Group(ITFC, ICIEC), SESRIC, IRCICA,

COMSTECH, ICCI, ISESCO andTOBB.Participants reviewed the agendaitems, notably: the identification of pro-grams and projects in priority sectorssuch as agro-industrial development,transportation sector, trade promotion,poverty reduction, education, profes-sional capacity building, research, sci-ence and technology, culture, art,tourism, cooperation in the health sec-tor and the conditions for realizingthese projects.For better visibility, it was decided togather all projects into a single tableindicating areas, owners, coordinatorsand each project deadline. The coordi-nators of priority areas project wereidentified. ICDT is one of the projectcoordinators of trade promotion.Besides, ICDT's representatives metKAZNEX INVEST representative anddiscussed the recent developmentsregarding the organisation of the OIC-Central Asia Business Forum to beheld in Astana on November 22 - 23,2011. �


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leather.com

Tijaris 122 - 123:Tijaris 107 21/12/03 12:05


IN BRIEF

The TGV in Morocco in2015His Majesty the King,Mohammed VI, chaired atthe palace Marshan inTangiers, the signing cere-mony of the new programcontract between the Stateand the ONCF for the period2010-2015 and the agree-ment with the Hassan IIFund for Economic andSocial Development on thefinancing of the proposedhigh speed train betweenTangiers and Casablanca.The Casablanca-Rabat-Tan-giers, which now accountsfor two million passengers ayear, will pass with the TGVto eight million passengers,said Mohamed Rabie Khlie,Executive Director of the“Office National des Che-mins de Fer” (ONCF).The actual construction start“is scheduled for June2010”, he said, “the rail infra-structure and equipmentwork will be completed in2014 and the end of the linecommercial operation willoccur in December 2015”,he added.

4th Session of the Arab-Turkish CooperationForum: Arab and TurkishDiplomats adopt theInitiative in Rabat for amutual partnershipThe proceedings of thefourth session of the Arab-Turkish Cooperation Forumwere completed on Novem-ber 17th, 2011 adopting the"Rabat Initiative for an Arab-Turkish comprehensive andsustainable partnership" asa strategic execution mech-anism and the Forum actionplan in the medium term(2012-2015).The initiative "will certainly

lead to the development of aroadmap likely to give grea-ter dynamism to this promis-ing framework”, said HisMajesty the King, Moham-med VI, King of Morocco, ina message to participants.His Majesty also claimedthat "the Arab world in itscomponents Maghreb / Mashreq is now at a historicdecision, which is, however,resistant to all logic andexpectations”.The 4th Arab-Turkish Fo-rum, which was held underthe theme "For a compre-hensive and sustainablePartnership", was attendedby Arab foreign ministersand the Representatives ofthe League of Arab Statesand Turkey. The forum,established in 2007, aims atstrengthening cooperationbetween the two parties inthe political, security, eco-nomic, cultural, educational,scientific, and social fields.

Signature of a Memoran-dum of Understandingbetween Morocco andCanadian "Bombardier"to create an industrialunitThe Moroccan Governmentand the Canadian company“Bombardier Aerospace” si-gned on November 16th,2011 a memorandum of un-derstanding to create, in theKingdom, a new generationunit of industrial productionfor an investment of $ 200million. The new industrial u-nit, specialised in assem-bling aircraft parts, will gen-erate 850 direct jobs and4,000 indirect jobs. At thememorandum signing cere-mony, the Head of theMoroccan Government laidstress on the importance of

the investment of the projectby “Bombardier Aerospace”,the third global manufactur-er of civil aircraft, with aturnover of 17.7 billion at theend of January 2011, and onthe creation of 30,000 jobsin nine production sites inNorth America, Mexico andIreland. The agreement carries amessage to the internationalcommunity showing that it ispossible to establish win-winpartnerships, which cancontribute to mitigate the dif-ficulties afflicting the devel-oped economies and devel-oping countries. For his part, the CEO ofBombardier Aerospace, GuyHachey, expressed satis-faction at the conclusion ofthis important agreement,the result of a series of "con-structive" negotiations.

Azerbaijan and Turkeylaunch operations on newjoint gas pipeline projectAzerbaijan and Turkey havebegun working to examinethe possibility of building anew gas pipeline, which willstretch from the eastern bor-der of Turkey to the westernborder of the country, SO-CARʼs President, RovnagAbdullaev, was quoted byAnadolu agency on Novem-ber 17th, 2011.Abdullayev announced thatthe new gas pipeline will becalled "Trans-Anadolu".Baku and Ankara intend tobuild a new gas pipeline inTurkey to export 50 billioncubic meters of gas thatAzerbaijan intends to pro-duce in 2025, as SOCARʼsPresident declared on Octo-ber 27.The participants in this pro-ject intend to resolve all

issues on this gas pipeline in2012.They also plan to start build-ing without delay, as the gaspipeline is scheduled to beready by the end of 2017.

Iran-Malaysia enjoygrounds for expandingcooperationIt was announced onNovember 13th, 2011 thatIran and Malaysia sharedmany areas of cooperation.Mahmoud Oliaie, Secretaryin charge of expanding Iran-Malaysia economic cooper-ation, said. He added thatboth countries enjoy severalgrounds for promoting bilat-eral cooperation. He alsopointed out that the MiddleEast and the East Asiancountries had very goodpotentials regarding the con-sumer markets.

Bandar Abbas-AlmatyCorridor inauguratedFreight train on the BandarAbbas-Almaty Corridor wasinaugurated in a ceremonyattended by the Minister ofRoad and Urban Construc-tion, the Railways ManagingDirector of the Islamic Re-public of Iran and the repre-sentatives of the ECOMember States as well asinternational organisations.Bandar Abbas-Almaty Corri-dor which extends 3,766 km,has the capacity to transfertwo million tons of commodi-ties annually, Moj NewsAgency reported.The launching of the rail-seacorridor will open a newchapter in the transportationsector in the ECO region.It will allow special discountson marine and port chargesto Central Asian nations andfacilities in southern ports,

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such as reducing the tariffsfor ships carrying transitcommodities in Bandar Ab-bas and Chabahar andstrengthening suitable coop-eration with the nations

along the route (i.e. Sarakhsroute tariff has not increasedin the past 15 years).According to the IranianMinister, it is due to such acorridor that transit of goods

to and from neighboringstates will reach 12 milliontons. The minister continuedthat Iran which has over 20international borders with itsneighbors, conducts the

largest amount of transit andseeks to increase the cargotransit to 30 million tons inthe coming years. �

IN BRIEF

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ICDT’S ACTIVITIES

ICDTʼS PARTICIPATION IN THE 3RDISLAMIC CONFERENCE

OF HEALTH MINISTERS IN ASTANA- KAZAKHSTAN -

29th September – 1st October 2011

ICDT participated in the Third IslamicConference of Health Ministers, whichwas held in Astana, Republic ofKazakhstan on September 29th -October 1st, 2011 under the theme"Health, welfare and equality." Representatives from 36 MemberStates and two observer states alongwith Representatives of the OICGeneral Secretariat and subsidiarybodies and specialised agencies par-ticipated in this session. Several inter-national organisations working in thefield of health also took part in the con-ference. The opening ceremony of the confer-ence was chaired by the Vice-PrimeMinister of Kazakhstan, HE M. YerbolOrynbayev and Foreign Minister, HEYerzhan Kazykhanov, the President inoffice of the OIC Council of ForeignMinisters.The speech of H.E. Prof. Dr.Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, red out by theAssistant Secretary General in chargeof Science and Technology in the OIC,Ambassador Abdul Moiz Bokhari,stressed the importance of health inthe OIC Ten Year Program of Actionand the decisions of the two previousconferences held in Malaysia and Iranwhich reflect the issues, concerns,needs and priorities of health of theOIC Member States. He also empha-sized the important role of Kazakhstanand its contribution to the action of theOIC under the high leadership of thePresident Nursultan Nazarbayev. Thesessions covered a wide range ofissues related to health. The MemberStatesʼ experiences and certain institu-tionsʼ research work and analysis werealso presented on this occasion.Working sessions on the developmentof co-operation in the field of healthbetween the Member States to achievethe Millennium Development also took

place. The Conference of the Ministersof Health adopted in the closing cere-mony, which was chaired by theMinister of Health of the Republic ofKazakhstan, reports and resolutions ofthe conference and the AstanaDeclaration.ICDTʼs representative, through hisactive participation in the 3rd Confe-rence, stressed the importance of pro-moting intra-OIC trade in the develop-ment and improvement of the quality ofproducts and health services and itsindustrialisation in the OIC MemberStates, which was the subject of a rec-ommendation in the Declaration.He also promoted the 1st OIC HealthExpo to be organised by ICDT, in col-laboration with the Tunisian authoritiesfrom March 1st to 4th, 2012, throughthe following actions:- Introduction of a statement appealingto Member States to participate in thisimportant event in the opening speechof the OIC Secretary General;- A special resolution calling onMember States to actively participatein this exhibition following the resolu-tions adopted by the conference onstrengthening cooperation in the fieldof health;- Presentation of a report on the moni-toring and preparations for the organi-sation by ICDT of the said exhibition;- Sentisizing participating Ministers andHeads of Member Statesʼ Delegationsby handing them invitation letters incit-ing them to participate in the exhibition.

ICDTʼS PARTICIPATION IN THE6TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE

ON FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Istanbul, Republic of Turkey 3rd – 6th October 2011

The Islamic Centre for Development ofTrade (ICDT) attended the 6th Ministe-rial Conference on Food Security andAgricultural Development which wasorganised in Istanbul, Republic ofTurkey, from October 3rd to 6th, 2011.Delegations of 36 Member States ofthe Organisation of Islamic Coopera-

tion (OIC), led by their respectiveMinisters, as well as the OIC GeneralSecretariat and its Institutions workingin the field of food security, agricultureand rural development also attendedthis Conference. The opening ceremony recorded thespeeches of: HE Mohammed AhmedALLOBA, Chairman of the 5th Confe-rence of the Minister of Agriculture andthe Minister of State at the Ministry ofAgriculture of the Republic of Sudan;H.E Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,the OIC Secretary General; H.E.MEHMED Mehdi Eker, Minister ofFood, Agriculture and Livestock of theRepublic of Turkey, which chaired thecurrent sixth conference. Groups rep-resenting Asia, the Arab World andAfrica also delivered their speeches.Films of the Turkish and Iranian expe-riences in agricultural developmentand food security were projected. TheMinisters and Heads of MemberStatesʼ Delegations also exchangedtheir experiences in this fied.The report and resolutions adopted bythe Conference reiterated the need forthe OIC Member States to allocatemore resources from national budgetsto agricultural development and foodsecurity programs; capacity building;the importance of external assistance;the creation of special funds of solida-rity; South-South cooperation and sup-port to the concerned various interna-tional institutions. The conference rec-ognized the need to be aware ofnational and regional programs to pro-mote effective coordination, avoidduplication and address the currentchallenges with priority actions andresults oriented with goals, dates anddeadlines. The Conference also re-commended the need to create safetynets, risk management mechanisms,agricultural insurance schemes, meas-ures to facilitate market access, reduc-ing price fluctuations and the creationof an OIC Food Safety Office. TheConference welcomed the TripartiteAgreement established between theIDB, the FAO and other developmentpartners to strengthen South-South co-

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ICDT’S ACTIVITIES

operation within the OIC and theFramework Agreement for the cofi-nancing of a $US 1,5 billion dealsigned between the IDB and IFAD.The OIC Conference also called onpublic and private companies operat-ing in the field of Food Industry in OICMember States to actively participatein fairs and exhibitions to enhanceintra-OIC trade, including the fifth exhi-bition of food industry in the OICMember States, which is scheduled tobe held in Jeddah, Kingdom of SaudiArabia, from May 20th to 23rd, 2012.ICDT's Representative was also invitedas an observer to attend the meeting ofthe COMCEC Working Group on agri-culture, rural development and foodsecurity held on this occasion. Thus,he stressed the importance of intra-OIC trade and investment develop-ment for the growth of the health sec-tor, through facilitating measures formarket access to Member Countriesand the holding of exhibitions and fairsto promote the sectorʼs products andservices.Finally, Senegal has offered to host theSeventh Conference in December2012.

VISIT OF THE ABePEC TO THEICDTʼS HEADQUARTERS

Casablanca, October 12th, 2011

The Islamic Centre for Development ofTrade (ICDT) received, on 12th Octo-ber 2011, a Delegation of the BeninAgency for Trade Promotion (ABePEC)visiting ICDTʼs Headquarters in Casa-blanca, Kingdom of Morocco. On this occasion, the Director Generalof ABePEC, Mr. Robert AKINDE con-gratulated, on behalf of the Minister ofTrade of the Republic of Benin, HerExcellency Mrs. Christine OUINSAVI,Dr. El Hassane HZAINE upon his no-mination at the Head of ICDT and in-formed participants that Her Excel-lency is planning to visit ICDT in thecoming future for, among others, thesignature of a Memorandum of Under-

standing with the Centre. He alsoexpressed his deep satisfaction at thetechnical assistance that ICDT hasprovided to his Agency within the diag-nosis phase and requested the Centreto undertake the necessary actions forthe realization of the other phases ofthe said technical assistance. On his turn, Dr. HZAINE, expressed hissatisfaction at the excellent status ofcooperation existing between the twoentities and invited the Republic ofBenin, and the ABePEC in particular, toparticipate in the following forthcomingevents to be organised by the Centre:- The Seminar on Logistics andTransportation and their roles in TradePromotion between the OIC MemberStates, 14th – 17th November 2011,Republic of Tunisia; - The Istanbul Conference on needsassessment of the OIC Member Statesin the field of Competition law and po-licy, 21st – 22nd November 2011;- The 1st OIC Health Expo, 1st – 4thMarch 2012, Republic of Tunisia;- The 5th Edition of the Agri-BusinessIndustries of the OIC Member States tobe held concomitantly with the 17thEdition of Food Propac in Jeddah,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 20th to23rd May 2012.

PRESENTATION AT ICDTʼS HEADQUARTERS OF THE

EVOLUTION OF INTRA-OIC TRADEAND THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE

NEGOTIATIONS TO MASTERDEGREE STUDENTS IN INTERNA-

TIONAL TRADE FROM MOROCCANHIGH BUSINESS SCHOOL (ISCAE)

Casablanca, October 15th, 2011

The Islamic Centre for Development ofTrade (ICDT), on 15th October 2011,made presentations on the Evolution ofIntra-OIC Trade and the InternationalTrade Negotiations to 16 Responsiblesof Moroccan Institutions and Adminis-trations preparing a specialised Masterin International Trade at the “InstitutSupérieur de Commerce et d'Adminis-tration des Entreprises” (ISCAE) of

Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco.On this occasion, the Centre made thefollowing presentations:- Activities of the Islamic Centre forDevelopment of Trade, by Mr. HoucineRAHMOUNI, Advisor to the DirectorGeneral of ICDT;- Intra-OIC Trade and Sub-SaharanCountriesʼ market, by Mr. AbdelazizALAMI, in charge of Trade Promotionin ICDT;- International Trade Negotiations, byMr. Houcine RAHMOUNI;- Trade Information Network for IslamicCountries (TINIC), by Mr. Ciré SALL, incharge of Trade Information System inICDT.An ICDTʼs film on Fairs and Exhibitionswas also projected on this occasion.

ICDTʼS PARTICIPATION IN THE27TH SESSION OF THE COMCEC

ISTANBUL, REPUBLIC OF TURKEYOctober 17th -20th, 2011

The Islamic Centre for Development ofTrade (ICDT) participated in the 27thSession of the Standing Committee forEconomic and Commercial Coopera-tion (COMCEC) which was held from17th to 20th October 2011 in Istanbul,Repubic Turkey. On this occasion, the Centre submittedseveral Reports on its activities. Wecan quote, among others, the follow-ing:- ICDTʼs Progress Report on theImplementation of the OIC Ten YearProgramme of Action;- Report on the project of the FreeTrade Area among the OIC MemberStates;- Reports on the meetings of theCommittee on the Regional Project onSustainable Tourism Development in aNetwork of Cross border parks andProtected Areas in West Africa;- ICDTʼs Reports on Trade Fairs andExhibitions;- Executive summary of ICDT's AnnualReport on Trade between the OICMember States ;- Follow-up report of the Implementa-tion of the “Executive Programme ofthe Roadmap for Achieving Intra-OIC

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ICDT’S ACTIVITIES

Trade Targets on Intra-OIC Trade”;- Report on the issues relating to theWTOʼs activities.

THE 28TH ORDINARY SESSIONOF ICDTʼS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Casablanca,Kingdom of Morocco

October 26th - 27th, 2011The Islamic Centre for Development ofTrade held the 28th Ordinary Sessionof its Board of Directors on October26th and 27th, 2011 at ICDTʼs head-quarters in Casablanca, Kingdom ofMorocco.The ICDTʼs Board of Directors wascomposed of the following MemberStates: Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya,Kuwait, Tunisia, Qatar, Senegal, Ca-meroon and Turkey.During this session, the Board ofDirectors examined the activity reportof the Centre from September 2010 toSeptember 2011, adopted the closingaccounts for the year 2010 and evalu-ated the draft budget as well as thework program for the year 2012.This session was also an occasion forthe Members of the Board of Directorsto assess the progress achieved by theCentre in the implementation of the“Ten Year Programme of Action in theeconomic field” adopted by the 3rdExtraordinary Summit Conference ofthe OIC held in Makkah Al Mukar-ramah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, inDecember 2005.

VISIT OF IDB GROUPʼS REPRESENTATIVE TO ICDTʼS

HEADQUARTERS IN CASABLANCANovember 2nd, 2011

The Representative of the Islamic De-velopment Bank Group (IDB), Mr.Hafedh Hmaïed Ben Afia, MarketingSpecialist at the Islamic Corporation forthe Insurance of Investment andExport Credit (ICIEC) paid a visit to theheadquarters of the Islamic Centre forDevelopment of Trade (ICDT) onNovember 2nd, 2011.During this meeting, both parties

reviewed the cooperation status of thetwo Institutions.

ICDTʼS PARTICIPATION IN THEANNUAL MEETING OF THE

ORGANISATION OF THE ISLAMICSHIPOWNERS ASSOCIATION

(OISA) Dubai, UAE - 29th November 2011

Upon invitation of the Organisation ofthe Islamic Shipowners Association(OISA), the Islamic Centre for Develo-pment of Trade (ICDT) participated inthe 33rd Executive Committee Meetingand the 25th General AssemblySession of the OISA held on November29th, 2011 in Dubai, the United ArabEmirates.On this occasion, ICDTʼs representa-tive, presented the Centreʼs activities,the TPS-OIC and the Intra-OIC Traderecent developments.

VISIT OF THE REPRESENTATIVEOF AL HARITHY COMPANY TO

ICDTʼS HEADQUARTERS INCasablanca

5th – 9th December 2011

Within the framework of the prepara-tions for the organisation of the 5thExhibition of Agri-Business Industriesin the OIC Member States to be heldon May 20th – 23rd, 2012 in Jeddah,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the IslamicCentre for Development of Trade(ICDT) hosted a co-ordination meetingwith Mr. Waleed S. Waked, Vice-President of Al Harithy Company, atICDTʼs Headquarters in Casablanca,Kingdom of Morocco.The Agenda of this Meeting focused ontwo issues: the organisation of theaforesaid Exhibition and the review ofco-operation and its enlargement tocover other events.To be noted that during his visit toCasablanca, the Representative of AlHarithy Company held meetings withthe Moroccan Export Promotion Centre(Maroc Export), the Chamber of

Commerce, Industry and Services ofCasablanca (CCISC) and the Office ofFairs and Exhibitions of Casablanca(OFEC) to further develop the co-oper-ation status of his company with theseorganisations.

ICDTʼS PARTICIPATION IN ADELEGATION OF THE

ORGANISATION OF ISLAMICCOOPERATION (OIC) LED BY HIS

EXCELLENCY PROF. DR.EKMELEDDIN IHSANOGLU IN A

VISIT TO LIBYA12th – 15th December 2011

ICDT participated in a Delegation ofthe Organisation of Islamic Coope-ration (OIC), composed of the repre-sentatives of OICʼs Subsidiary andSpecialised Organs, led by HisExcellency Prof. Dr. EkmeleddinIHSANOGLU, the OIC SecretaryGeneral, which paid a visit to Libyafrom December 12th to 15th 2011. During this visit, the OIC Delegationmet Libyan officials and inquired abouttheir needs and identified the fields inwhich the OIC Institutions can extendtheir assistance to help them furtherdevelop their Country.On this occasion, ICDTʼs representa-tive seized this opportunity to promotethe Centreʼs activities and examine,with the relevant departments, a Co-operation Plan of Action for the upcom-ing years falling within the scope ofICDTʼs assignments, notably TradeNegotiations, Trade Fairs and Exhi-bitions as well as Training and Ca-pac-ity building. �

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MARRAKECH

The Imperial Moroccan City by Excellency,

Offers its Visitors Infinite Attractions...

Tijaris 122 - 123:Tijaris 107 21/12/03 12:05

ISLAMIC CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE (ICDT)

Complexe Commercial des Habous - Av. des FAR -Casablanca 20000 - Morocco

Tel: 00212 522 31 49 74 - Fax: 00212 522 31 01 10 - E-mail: [email protected] - Website: www.icdt-oic.org

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