VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #1706/01 2561726
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131726Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4665
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4152
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0368
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0209
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 0112
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2130

UNCLAS RABAT 001706 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG AND EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON RU MO
SUBJECT: PUTIN VISIT ACCENTUATES BILATERAL COOPERATION 
 
REF: A. MOSCOW 9690 
     ¶B. CAPE TOWN 293 
     ¶C. PRETORIA 3659 
     ¶D. RABAT 1643 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Russian President Putin's 18-hour visit to 
Morocco September 6-7 emphasized economic and commercial ties 
between the two countries, with the signature of cooperation 
agreements in fields ranging from fisheries to tourism, 
culture, and communications.  Putin was accompanied by 50 
leading Russian businessmen, who attended an inaugural 
meeting of a new Russian-Moroccan Business Council in 
Casablanca.  2005 Trade figures show that the Council has 
much work to do: while oil and gas exports have vaulted 
Russia into 5th place among exporters to Morocco, Moroccan 
exports lag far behind.  After the concerns that Russia's 
large arms sale to Algeria sparked earlier this year, Russian 
officials were also at pains to emphasize that the 
reinforcement of bilateral relations would "contribute to 
stability in the region," and that the two nations have a 
common approach on issues ranging from the Middle East to the 
Western Sahara.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) As predicted, Russian President Putin's short visit 
to Morocco on September 6-7 focused primarily on economic and 
commercial issues.  In his public remarks, Putin emphasized 
that the African continent represents an important "vector of 
expansion" for Russia, which intends to expand cooperation 
with Morocco in such areas as energy and agriculture.  He 
pointed particularly to atomic energy, electricity, and 
hydrocarbons as fields where Russia and Morocco could work 
together.  The nuclear issue in particular sparked a range of 
press speculation, building on a separate press statement by 
Russian firms that they plan to bid on any tender by the 
Moroccan government for a nuclear power plant.  Separate 
reports indicated that senior officials of the National 
Electricity Office (ONE) traveled to Russia at the end of 
August to meet with Rosatom about Morocco's nuclear energy 
plans.  (Note: Such a visit would not be surprising; ONE 
officials told us in late August that they were exploring 
their nuclear power options with the full range of possible 
international suppliers (ref d).  End Note.) 
 
¶3. (U) The formal meeting between President Putin and King 
Mohammed on September 7 saw the signature of a range of 
bilateral agreements, including: 
 
-- A Justice convention, to permit nationals convicted of 
crimes in one state to serve their sentence in their native 
country. 
 
-- A Fisheries Agreement, permitting 12 Russian vessels to 
fish in Moroccan waters from October 15, 2006, when the 
existing agreement expires.  By terms of the accord, the 
Russian vessels are allotted a quota of 12,000 tons of 
pelagic fish for the agreement's first year, a total that 
will be reviewed annually.  Russian vessels are required to 
accept Moroccan scientific observers and to employ Moroccan 
seamen. 
 
-- An Agreement on Tourism, which seeks to expand bilateral 
cooperation in tourism, through regular exchanges of tourism 
experts and the organization of cultural and sporting events. 
 
-- An Agreement on Cultural and Scientific Cooperation, to 
reinforce cooperation in these areas, including through 
offering scholarships to enable students to study in the 
other country. 
 
-- An agreement on Communications, which aims at stricter 
respect for intellectual property rights, while also 
facilitating media accreditation and cooperation in the 
realms of cinema, radio, television, and advertising. 
 
-- and finally an agreement on cooperation to ensure 
agricultural trade does not result in transmission of plant 
diseases, through ensuring vegetal quarantines and protection 
of vegetal crops. 
 
¶4. (SBU) For the business leaders accompanying the Russian 
President, the central event of the visit was the 
constitutive assembly of a Russian-Moroccan joint business 
council.  Building on a convention that was signed in Moscow 
in June, the council will seek to promote business 
opportunities and exchange of information between businesses. 
 Recent trade figures highlight the fact that there is much 
work to do: while Russian exports to Morocco nearly tripled 
from 2001 to 2005 (from 4.2 to 12.2 billion MD, or nearly 7 
percent of Moroccan imports), a doubling of Moroccan exports 
over the same period (from 600 million DM to 1.2 billion MD, 
or 1.3 percent of Moroccan exports) left the bilateral trade 
deficit at nearly 11 billion MD (1.4 billion USD). 
 
¶5. (SBU) If economics were at the center of the visit, 
Russian officials were at pains to emphasize the fact that 
there was a political purpose as well.  Both Russian 
Presidential Advisor Mikhail Kaminine and Ambassador 
Alexandre Tokovinine stressed the "longstanding friendship" 
between the two countries and their "close or common" outlook 
on issues ranging from the Middle East Peace Process to the 
Western Sahara.  The Moroccan press argued the unspoken 
subtext of the visit was Russia's desire to assuage Moroccan 
concerns about its large (7.5 billion USD) arms sale to 
Algeria earlier this year. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Putin's visit appears to have checked a box 
for Russia by signalling its desire to expand bilateral ties, 
notwithstanding its historically close relationship to 
Algeria.  The energy issue, and in particular that of nuclear 
power, will likely garner the most extensive interest from 
Moscow, and it is one we will monitor closely, given the 
potential interest in the project by American companies as 
well.  End Comment. 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
RILEY