MOROCCO

special advertising section3from page 1Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis RodriguezZapatero greets Morocco’s King MohamedVI during their meeting in Oujda.Lying just eight miles off the coast ofGibraltar, Morocco is closer to Europegeographically and in its attitudes thanany other country in the Arab world oron the African continent, something ithas managed without abandoning itscultural traditions. Morocco can lay claimto being the most moderate and peacefulcountry in the Islamic world.“Geographically, we are in Africa,”says Othman Benjelloun, one of the country’sleading business tycoons, “but at thesame time we are more European thanany other country on the continent.”“Morocco represents an ideal againstthose who praise a clash of civilizations,”says Andre Azoulay, the senior advisor tothe King.While the impulse for economic andsocial modernization of Morocco hascome from the King, the politicaldynamism is promoted now by Fouad AliEl Himma, a former interior minister andboyhood friend of the monarch.Five political parties joined forces inJuly to create a new grouping, the Partyfor Authenticity and Modernity (PAM),under El Himma’s leadership. Observersexpect it to provide a reformist alternativeto the moderate Islamic Justice andDevelopment Party in elections nextyear. El Himma aims to further implementmodern reforms and keepextremists at bay.“The challenge is not to fight againstsomething, but to work towards something.That is Morocco’s path on the wayto reform, democracy and modernity,”says El Himma.“The essential element for us is to finda Moroccan way of creating morewealth, ensuring it is shared equally andguaranteeing Moroccans’ well-being anddignity,” he adds.“Morocco has undergone a time oftremendous change simultaneously inReuters/Pool Newevery field,” says Salaheddine Mezouar,the country’s minister of economy andfinance. The emphasis now, he says, ison diversifying the economy by attractingautomotive and high-tech industrieswhile moving up the value chain in traditionalsectors such as agriculture andtextiles.The creation of successful partnershipsbetween the public and private sectorshas been a key driver of economic diversification.“Thepublic-private partnershipis working perfectly and forms one of themain pillars of the Moroccan economicmodel,” says Moulay Hafid El Alamy,president of the employers’ federation.Another significant component of theeconomic strategy has been the signingof bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs)with the U.S., the European Union andTurkey, as well as and a joint FTA withEgypt and Tunisia.In its first year, the FTA with the U.S.led to a 44% increase in total tradebetween the two countries, withMoroccan exports surging by 25%. Italso helped attract more American businessand investors to Morocco. ❖By Michael Knipe