VZCZCXRO2743
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHRB #2548/01 3551634
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211634Z DEC 05
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2339
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 0997
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 3617
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8525
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 2903
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3922
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1405
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5291
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2699
RUEATRS/DEPTTREAS WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 0830
RUEAORC/USCBP WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 002548 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/OFI AND INL/AAE 
DEPT ALSO FOR EB/TPP, EB/IFD AND DRL/IL 
STATE PASS USTR FOR DOUG BELL 
STATE PASS USAID FOR JENNIFER RAGLAND 
USDOC ITA/MAC/ANESA FOR DAVID ROTH 
USDOC FOR FSC/OIO AND CLDP 
USDOL FOR ILAB 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
ROME FOR ROSE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAIR EFIN ECPS MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
More Americans Traveling to Morocco 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  The flow of American tourists to Morocco has increased 
through November 2005 by 16 percent in terms of arrivals and 
by 23 percent in terms of bed-nights, compared to the same 
period one year earlier.  National air carrier Royal Air 
Maroc (RAM) has also recorded a 23 percent increase in its 
U.S.-Morocco passenger traffic in 2005.  RAM estimates that 
20-25 percent of the 92,000 customers on its New York- 
Casablanca line are Americans.  The airline attributes some 
of this increase to a rise in transit traffic to the Middle 
East, Europe and Africa, and the opening of new routes to 
Cameroon, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Expatriate Remittances up Eight Percent 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Moroccans resident abroad have sent back $3.7 billion in 
the first 10 months of 2005, an increase of eight percent 
over the same period in 2004.  According to figures 
published by the Moroccan Exchange Office, this is 23 
percent higher than the average registered over the same 
period of the last five years (2000 to 2004), when the 
transfers stood at an average of $2.7 billion. 
 
--------------------- 
Call Centers Flourish 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  Maroc Telecom lowered its fees for call centers 
operating in conjunction with companies in Belgium, France 
and Spain on Dec. 19, in an effort to encourage the creation 
of more centers and an increase in telephone traffic.  Call 
centers, which made their first appearance in Morocco just 
five years ago, now employ over 10,000 Moroccans. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Morocco Adopts IMF Data Standards 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Morocco joined 60 other countries last week when it 
subscribed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special 
Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS).  The Ministry of 
Finance and Privatization announced Morocco's certification 
by the IMF on Monday, December 19.  GOM officials called it 
a "crowning achievement" on the part of various economic and 
financial agencies to conform to international standards and 
harmonize the collection and dissemination of economic and 
financial statistical data using best international 
practices.  SDDS was established by the IMF to assist 
countries seeking access to international capital markets. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Subsidies to be Phased Out - Eventually 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  The Moroccan government intends to gradually phase out 
subsidies to basic commodities that currently cost the 
government over $1.1 billion annually.  The Government has 
launched what it called a "gradual and definitive" 
liberalization of subsidized products, according to Minister- 
 
RABAT 00002548  002 OF 002 
 
 
delegate for Economic Affairs, Rachid Talbi Alami.  Annual 
subsidies to basic commodities include $440 million for 
petroleum products, $430 million for butane gas and $240 
million for sugar.  The GOM has already successfully phased 
out subsidies for cooking oil which had cost $220 million 
annually. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Morocco Opens its Skies to the EU 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Morocco and the European Union signed an open skies 
agreement on Dec. 14 to liberalize air travel starting next 
year.  The pact allows Moroccan air carriers to fly to and 
transit from any EU airport, and reciprocally, opens 
Moroccan airports to all EU carriers.  Moroccan authorities 
hope the agreement, which will come into force on Jan. 1, 
2006, will bring more European tourists into Morocco. 
Morocco already had separate aviation agreements with 
individual EU states, but seeks through this new agreement 
to intensify aviation competition and bring in the 
additional travelers it needs to achieve its goal of 10 
million tourist arrivals by 2010.  The GOM estimates that 
without such an agreement, national airline Royal Air Maroc 
would have had to invest over $3 billion to expand its fleet 
by 60 new planes over the next five years.