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Morocco invites Indian firms companies for investments
11/02/2006

Morocco today invited Indian companies to set up businesses in areas like IT, aerospace, automotive industry, tourism, agri business and handicrafts, promising a host of incentives including capital subsidy.

"Trade between the two countries is relatively small and we are inviting Indian companies to correct this imbalance. Indian investors are almost absent on Moroccan soil and there is scope for increasing bilateral trade," Minister in charge of Economic Affairs Rachid Talbi El Alami told reporters here.

Morocco has strong economic cooperation with India in the field of phosphates and fertilisers. Trade between the two countries increased from 373.93 million dollars in 2002 to 619.06 million dollars in 2005.

"The two countries are looking at a bilateral trade of one billion dollars by 2010," he said, adding that other areas for investment also need to be explored.

The Moroccan market is open for investments and while a few fiscal and institutional incentives are in place, steps would be taken to ensure that Morocco becomes the most competitive country in the region, he said.

"While we would negotiate directly with the investors, we do have a provision where we finance 8-15 per cent of the total investments made by foreign companies, besides providing subsidies and certain exemptions in corporate and income tax," he added.

AIDS cases in Morocco on the Increase
12/02/2005

AIDS cases in Morocco are increasing year after year, confirmed Wednesday the President of the Pan-African Organisation against AIDS, Nadia Bezad.

In an interview published by the French-speaking daily Aujourd'hui le Maroc, Bezad said that in 2005, over 17,719 people are HIV-positive in Morocco including 1,839 full-blown AIDS cases.

She stressed that heterosexual relations are the main cause of the transmission of the virus, adding that ‘non protected sexual intercourse and ignorance contribute a great deal to the spread of the disease.

According to Bezad, women are more and more vulnerable to AIDS. The disease increasingly affects women, because of their abstaining from using means of protection,” she said.

The French language daily also said that the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria offered USD 9 million to Morocco to fight the phenomenon.

Annually, 350,000 new cases of sexually transmissible diseases are registered. As far as AIDS is concerned, Over 17,000 people are HIV-positives in Morocco. Those under 40 years old are most affected by the epidemic,” underlined Bezad.

The first infection was detected in 1986 in Morocco. The number multiplied to reach 165 in 1999 and 205 in 2005.

Statistics have shown that 76% of contamination is due to multiple heterosexual relations. About 4% of cases are drug addicts.

About 84% of infections are registered in urban areas and 12% in rural areas.

Moroccan civil society is mobilized to join the fight against AIDS. In addition to their many activities on the ground, associations have played a significant role in behavioural change communication.

HIV is one of the biggest social, economic and health problem standing as an obstacle to the development of the world.

It is considered to be a global emergency claiming over 8,000 lives every day.

access to Sahrawi sites blocked within Morocco
12/02/2005

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the censorship of many websites supporting the Polisario Front’s struggle for Sahrawi independence, such as Arso.org, which have been made inaccessible within Morocco.

Calling on the Moroccan authorities to stop blocking access to sites dealing with the Sahara, the organisation said : "It should not be possible to take a decision to filter a website without a fair trial taking place first. Banning an online publication simply on the basis of an administrative decision is a serious violation of free expression."

Reporters Without Borders has verified that the arso.org, wsahara.net and spsrasd.info websites have all been rendered inaccessible in Morocco since 21 November. These sites all criticise Morocco’s control of Western Sahara and encourage protests, but they do not call for violence.

A "connection failure" type of error message is displayed when someone tries to access one of these sites. The decision to block may have been taken by the communication ministry, which is responsible for censorship, or the interior ministry, while monitors the Sahrawi problem. Local sources said the filtering can nonetheless be easily sidestepped by using an online proxy such as www.anonymizer.com.

ARSO - the Free and Legitimate Referendum in Western Sahara Support Association - carried photos on its website in September that showed Sahrawi prisoners being held in extremely harsh condition in the prison in El Ayoum, the territory’s main city. The local state prosecutor reacted by ordering an investigation with the aim of "exposing all those implicated in this vile act that jeopardises the reputation of the prison where the inmates are held."

2M produces documentary on caves in Morocco
12/01/2005

The second Moroccan national channel 2M has produced ‘one thousand and one cave' documentary serial, to inform viewers about caves in Morocco, said a release of the channel.

The documentary aims at highlighting Morocco's richness in terms of nature and geography, answering the demands of the channel's viewers, who are keen on discovering the thousands facets of the country.

The Moroccan extraordinary landscapes attracted the attention of journalists to shoot and broadcast a scientific documentary serial, bringing the viewers closer to the secrets of Cavernology.

The documentary also tends to inform viewers about the causes and circumstances of the formation of caves in many areas in Morocco.

Morocco gets first marrow transplant facility
11/30/2005

Morocco on Tuesday inaugurated at the haematology and paediatric oncology section of the "20 August" hospital in Casablanca its first marrow-transplant for both children and adults.

This four-bed capacity unit, which can handle 15 transplants per year, requires highly trained personnel and costs between 50,000 and 200,000 euros in Europe, depending on the nature of the surgery.

Morocco`s Health Ministry in partnership with "Agir", a local Association, initiated the project, whose cost is 600,000 euros.

Princess Lalla Salma, King Mohammed VI`s wife and chair of an Anti-cancer Association, officially opened the facility.

The contribution of the "Lalla Salma Anti-cancer Association" to the onco-haematology division includes medico-technical equipment and beds, as well as the necessary equipment for a classroom where children could continue their schooling and take advantage of the recreation facilities during their treatment.

The haematology and oncology section, having children and adults` units and a daytime hospital has a capacity of 37 beds. It has a medical staff of 59 members including 4 professors, 13 resident medical doctors, and 14 Registered Nurses.

This section receives annually about 1,200 patients from various regions of the kingdom. It performs 2,947 medical acts, 2,889 blood transfusions, and 5,913 chemotherapy operations.

French Magistrate in Morocco on Ben Braka Probe
11/27/2005

A French magistrate looking into the disappearance in Paris 40 years ago of Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka arrived in Rabat Sunday, the interior ministry said.

Patrick Ramael was originally due in Morocco at the end of October but postponed his visit at the request of the authorities until after the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

He is due to go to Casablanca to meet Moroccan magistrate Jalal Sarhane, in charge of the Moroccan end of the inquiry into the disappearance in October 1965 of Mehdi Ben Barka, the leader of the Moroccan left and opponent of the late King Hassan II, kidnapped in Paris outside a famous restaurant.

He is believed to have been murdered but his body was never found and the affair remains a mystery.

Sources in Paris said Ramael was due to interview a number of people in Morocco under the terms of an international warrant, provided for by a bilateral agreement.

Ramael will be talking to people who were unavailable for questioning by previous French investigators examining the case, they said.

His visit comes shortly before the final drafting of a report by the "Instance Equité et Reconcialition" on human rights violations in Morocco between 1956 and 1999.

The committee has spent 18 months investigating the issue and should give an indication of its findings on Wednesday.

In October 2004 the French defence authorities agreed to declassify information they held about the Ben Barka affair.

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