VZCZCXRO0810
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHRB #0742/01 1111505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211505Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3499
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 1614
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 3945
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8827
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 3147
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4170
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1457
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5478
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2917
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 0889
RUEAORC/USCBP WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000742 
 
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 NATE MASON 
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 EINV EFIS EWWT KFLU KHIV MO WS
SUBJECT: MOROCCO ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Sahara Concerns Delay EU Fisheries Agreement 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  An EU-Morocco fisheries agreement signed in July 2005 
has been delayed due to opposition from some EU governments 
about whether the deal should include fishing grounds off 
the disputed Western Sahara.  Last year, after six years of 
talks, the GOM signed a $160 million, four-year deal that 
would allow 119 European boats to fish the waters off 
Morocco's Atlantic coast.  Spain's fishing fleet will be the 
main beneficiary; 95 of the 119 permits will go to Spanish 
fishing boats, 14 to Portugal and 10 to France.  The 
agreement was supposed to go into effect on March 1, but 
several northern EU countries have expressed concern with 
European trawlers fishing off the Western Sahara.  EU 
Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg says that since Morocco is 
the de facto administrator of the territory, the planned EU- 
Morocco fisheries deal is valid under international law.  An 
earlier fisheries agreement referred to waters over which 
Morocco had "sovereignty or jurisdiction." 
 
---------------- 
New Call Centers 
---------------- 
 
¶2.  Webcad, a branch of the French group Webhelp, will 
expand its network of call centers in Morocco with an 
investment of $12 million over three years, creating an 
estimated 1,000 new jobs.  The move follows an investment by 
the same company four years ago that created 1,700 jobs. 
Webcad directors said the choice of Morocco as a host 
country was due to the "high level of French language in the 
country, the use of modern technologies, and the quality of 
living conditions in the kingdom." 
 
----------------------------- 
Avian Flu Simulation Exercise 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Moroccan authorities held a simulation exercise to 
rehearse their reaction to the detection of avian influenza 
in the local bird population.  The exercise was the first 
test of coordinated action from multiple ministries in 
response to an outbreak.  Units from the ministries of 
Agriculture, Interior, Health, and Forestry cordoned off 
areas in a series of concentric zones around the affected 
area and simulated the removal and distribution of diseased 
animals.  Meanwhile, poultry consumption and prices remain 
depressed as periodic press reports of findings of dead 
birds keep the general public fearful of poultry meat. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
UAE Investing Billions in Moroccan Tourism 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  Morocco and two investment groups from the United Arab 
Emirates have signed eight investment contracts worth $9 
billion to develop tourism projects in the kingdom. 
Investments spread over ten years will focus on tourist 
infrastructure and real estate development projects in 
Rabat, Marrakech, Casablanca and Tangier. 
 
---------------------------- 
 
RABAT 00000742  002 OF 002 
 
 
New HIV Advocacy Association 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5.  An advocacy group for HIV positive people was created in 
Casablanca on April 14.  "Annahar Association," the first of 
its kind in Morocco, will fight stigmatization and 
discrimination against the seropositive and create income 
generating activities for the reintegration of people living 
with HIV.  The first case of AIDS in Morocco was discovered 
in 1986 in a man infected by a blood transfusion during 
surgery in France.  Fewer than 2,000 cases of ull-blown 
AIDS have been reported in Morocco sine then, but local 
experts say there are 16,000 t 25,000 HIV positive people 
in Morocco. 
 
---------------------------- 
Port Accord Tangier-Baltimore 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Tangier-Med port in northern Morocco has signed a 
cooperation agreement with the Port of Baltimore covering 
various port activities including the standardization of 
documentation and other port procedures.  The accord was 
signed in Tangier by the president of the Tangier-Med board 
of directors, Said El-Hadi, and the managing director of 
Baltimore Port, Brooks Royster.  When Tangier-Med is opened 
in mid-2007 it will handle transshipment traffic that will 
go directly to U.S. ports like Baltimore. 
 
RILEY