focusI S S U E 9 F E B - M AR 2 0 0 6

In this issue

PAGE ONE AMPA Updates PAGE TWO Featured Members Welcome New Members! PAGE THREE Expert’s Corner: Assets Pro-tection for African Flag Carri-ers PAGE FIVE Morocco in History: Mo-rocco's American Campaign to End the Protectorate PAGE SIX Event News PAGE TEN Bladi Headlines

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Jaridati

Association of Moroccan Professionals in America

► Special Edition: Morocco Event Coverage Page 6

Message from the Editor Dear reader, I am happy to announce that Jaridati will be undergoing a few changes meant to provide you with better content. As such, Jaridati will be moving to a bi-monthly frequency, and will include a new section called “Morocco in History” in which AMPA member Talal Belrhiti will take us back in time to key events in the history of Morocco. I hope that you will be ex-cited about this new section and continue to send us your feedback on how we can further improve your newsletter of choice. Sincerely, Faiza Laghrari Jaridati Editor

Management Team Update Your AMPA management team is happy to present the projects it is currently working on: • Website redesign • Looking into ways to improve MyAMPA • Finalizing and planning dates and locations for next local and regional events • Developing a work frame for the creation of a social committee to meet member interests • Updating bylaws • Applying for charity status • Developing a member survey to find best ways to meet members’ expectations • Membership Renewals

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Our Featured Members Othmane Alaoui New York City, NY

Originally from Casablanca, Oth-mane came to the United States in April 2005. Prior to that, he pur-sued his studies in the United Kingdom where he graduated with a B.A in Business Administration from Luton University and then in France where he obtained a Mas-ters degree in Financial Control from Montpellier business school ESC (Ecole Superieure de Com-

merce). Othmane has been working as a Financial Advisor for Morgan Stanley since July 2005. He helps individuals consolidate their 401(k) and IRA accounts and evaluate their retirement needs. He also works with businesses to help them meet their financial goals and assists them with their cash management, lending, and retirement planning. In his free time, Othmane enjoys playing soccer and volleyball and watching NBA games.

Saoussane Rifai Princeton, NJ

A native of Rabat, Morocco, Saoussane is a Fulbright Scholar in the US. She holds a Bachelor degree in Business from Alakhwayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, and a Masters degree in Information Technol-ogy from Bentley College. Pre-

viously, she worked as a commercial engineer at Maroc Telecom and currently holds a Technical Manager posi-tion at Tyco International. When talking about her passion around Information Technology project management, Saoussane says: “If you ask me about my source of courage and motivation to manage my IT projects, I would say that it is my per-sonal satisfaction at learning throughout every step of the project about how to solve problems, and deliver satisfactory results. I would never be able to do so without leveraging my past, personal, academic and professional experiences.” When not working, Saoussane enjoys reading, listening to Jazz music, and swimming. She is also a member of the Moroccan Fulbright Alumni Association, and the Bentley College Alumni Association.

Welcome New Members ! Zine Abidine Badissy Chairman & CEO Air Transport support group Redmond, WA Mohamed Belali Project Manager Microsoft Washington (WA) Talal Belrhiti Doctoral Candidate, The University of Virginia/ Washington DC Political Science The MENA Center Ali Bettahi Sales Executive Qwest Communications San Francisco, CA Adnane Drissi KBE/PLM coordinator Faurecia Toledo, OH Nadir B. Elbied Vice President RBS Greenwich Capital Markets New York, NY Sumaya Ibourk Teacher York prep High School New York, NY Mehdi Jamil General Manager Pound & Pence New York, NY Zakaria Kassaoui Trader BNP Paribas Mamaroneck, NY Driss Marbou President Telebeacon, LLC Connecticut Adila Mchich Research Analyst New York Mercantile Exchange New York, NY Khalid Mejrhirh Commercialization Manager Plastics Fabrication Technologies Huntington Beach, CA Abdessamad Nhairy President Hospitality Marketing Services Herndon, VA Saoussane Rifai IT Auditor Tyco International Princeton, NJ Mostapha Saout Director Allied Media Corp. Alexandria, VA Faouzi Sefrioui President A&Y property Investments Washington WA Zouhair Tahri Audit Manager PriceWaterHouseCoopers Dallas, TX Pascale Takvorian President Arialimousine New York, NY Walid Touijri Program Manager T-Mobile San Francisco, CA

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REFERRALS!

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Expert’s Corner Assets Protection for African Flag Carriers By Zine A. Badissy

From 1970 to 1983, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) with the assistance of the Export Import Bank of the United States (EximBank), added a total of 18 aircraft rang-ing from 727-200, 737-200, 707-320C to 747-200 Combi to its existing fleet. At the onset, se-curing financing from the EximBank was difficult due to their lack of expo-sure to RAM, who at the

time only owned a total of 4 caravels. Ultimately the deal was facilitated by the coupling of the Moroccan government and banks that provided not only a guaran-tee, but also financing of 10-15% towards the down pay-ment of the purchase. Unfortunately, financing assis-tance by the US Export Agency was halted due to the rescheduling of the National debt in 1983 and the budget reduction of EximBank. With the loss of Exim-Bank’s support, RAM was forced to find other independ-ent commercial sources to finance the planned fleet ac-quisitions. In a particular case, RAM was obliged to re-sort to employing the manufacturer deficiency guarantee in order to lower the bank’s financial risk in the lease finance structure.

Following the initial phase of the National Debt Re-

scheduling, the export agencies recognized the need to consider alternative means to support US aircraft manu-facturers. These modes of aid came to include assis-tance in financing acquisitions of aircraft through flag carriers regardless of their countries’ National Resched-uled Debt restrictions. Aircraft assets along with well documented lease finance structures presented the ex-port agencies and the financing institutions the needed

reassurance to secure their loans. Generally, the lease finance structures pleased the airlines for it granted them a sense of independence in financing their fleets without having to contend with governmental bureauc-racy.

EximBank’s agreement to the lease financing structure gave Royal Air Maroc the ability to finance future acqui-sitions of aircraft at terms equivalent to those of larger airlines. In 1990, I structured a transaction that involved not only EximBank as loan guarantor, but included four other parties in financing the first two 737-400s of RAM’s largest order of twenty two 737-500/400 aircrafts. This marked the first successfully funded Japanese Lev-erage Lease in conjunction with a loan guaranteed by US export agency. Even though the aircraft asset was the main security for extending the loan guarantee, EximBank agreed to allow Japanese companies hold and depreciate the asset for the first 10 of the 12 year loan term. The initial net benefit income to RAM was approximately 4.5 million dollars, a significant Japanese contribution to an African flag carrier.

As a financial consultant to RAM, I structured the fi-nancing for the next four 737-500s and two 737-400s which had been guaranteed by EximBank based on an asset based lease financing structure without the sover-eign guarantee. The basic asset based lease financing structure is still being used today by many airlines.

Aircraft manufacturers have determined that African carriers will require approximately 240 aircrafts for the remainder of this decade in order to support passenger demand and to replace their aging fleets. The cost of these new aircraft in today’s market is estimated at over $12 billion. The carriers need to obtain 15% of the air-craft net cost in order to satisfy the export agencies’ re-quirements. The 15 % down payment may be totally or partially financed, however, when possible, it is recom-mended that it be financed separately in the respective local market. A second priority aircraft mortgage is usu-ally permitted by the export agencies to secure such debt. The primary focus of African flag carriers in pro-moting the growth of their assets, must be to strive to purchase rather than lease their needed aircraft. RAM is a prime example considering they currently only lease two 767-300s of their fleet of 32 Boeing jets.

(Continued on next page)

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In certain cases an operating lease may be the best

option, particularly for a short term lease to replace an aircraft grounded for major overhaul or the handling of a seasonal traffic surge. Nonetheless, an African flag car-rier’s present transportation requirements to satisfy the economy’s needs, will only increase over time requiring the operating lease to be extended or replaced by a more expensive lease. Additionally, at the conclusion of the lease period the return cost of an aircraft is always much higher than expected. This is compounded by the initial up-front costs associated with the new lease. The new emerging airline in Senegal successfully followed RAM’s example. Through their first purchase of a new aircraft, they replaced a leased aircraft, strengthening their asset base and future profitability.

The operating costs of an aging fleet, which is the case

of most African carriers, are very high. These costs will only escalate as the number of aircrafts in service de-cline. Therefore, a strategic replacement program is rec-ommended based on flight hours, load factors and yield. The present cost of capital associated with an export agency loan guarantee is relatively low and should sup-port such a decision. Current fixed interest rates in US dollars are at 4.25% for a 12 year term with a relatively simple asset based lease finance structure and a nomi-nal purchase price of one dollar at the end of the lease term.

RAM’s achievement can be duplicated by African flag carriers. A feasibility study should be conducted out-lining the steps for short and long term objectives. An outside consultant can aid the carrier in the creation of a business plan that encompasses everything from fleet planning, aircraft selection to the introduction and opera-tion of the aircraft. The carrier should consider the fol-lowing elements in its evaluations:

• Proper selection of aircraft model to support its in-tended operation for new route development or aging aircraft replacement.

• Efficient scheduling of aircraft and possible joint op-eration with other airlines for the unused aircraft time.

• Training their mechanics to increase in-house fleet maintenance whenever economically viable.

• Negotiating a maintenance agreement for the work that cannot be performed in-house, preferably with an-other African carrier operating similar aircraft models.

The surplus capacity in the world market prompted most of the leasing companies to place increased pres-sure on the African carriers to lease instead of acquire the needed aircraft. Due to the lower up-front cash pay-ment, operating leases with high purchase options have been largely encouraged as a superior alternative to the direct purchase. The security deposits required by the lessor are in most cases equivalent or higher than the needed down payment in a finance lease structure. Fur-thermore while it is almost impossible to finance the se-curity deposit due the absence of security, the down payment can be financed and secured by a second pri-ority mortgage on the aircraft.

One important factor that is largely ignored by the small carriers are manufacturer concessions for the air-craft, engines, seats galleys and avionics. These con-cessions are usually negotiated with the manufacturer before entering into the purchase agreement and are given to the purchaser of the airplane. The concessions are used to reduce the product costs or cover the costs of recommended spare parts for the start of airline op-erations. In a normal operating lease, the carrier must be in a position to acquire the initial spare parts to support its operations. In other words, a carrier with reasonable in-house maintenance that can achieve a fair income from its operation or that can attract enough hard cur-rency generating traffic, can and will have a viable op-eration that will persuade the Export agencies to offer their financial support in order to ease the burden of the financial constraints. The resulting equity benefit will fur-ther straighten the balance sheet of the carrier for a healthy development. Mr. Zine Badissy can be contacted using the MyAMPA member platform.

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A Call Across the Atlantic: Morocco's American Campaign to End the Protectorate

By Talal Belrhiti

On March 2, 1956, the government of France and Sultan Muhammad V signed a declaration in Paris effectively ending the French protectorate over Morocco. Independence was in essence the result of a worldwide historical trajectory of decolonization, to which Morocco was no exception. In-deed, ever since Woodrow Wilson issued his fourteen points, colonialism began its slow, but inevitable decline. Many in the colonized world saw the rise of the United States to the status of a superpower, with almost no colonial past, as an inspiration for their demands for independence. Morocco, both Sultan and nationalists, saw in the United States a positive force for decolonization. Sultan Mohammed V understood the US’s commitment to the self-determination of nations, dating back to Woodrow Wilson’s presidency. The US also was perceived to have political influence over France, because of American economic and military aid to French post-war reconstruction. With this in mind, the Mo-roccans mounted a concentrated campaign to enlist US sup-port for independence; they received a sympathetic hearing and some indirect support. The Moroccan approach was two-pronged; to lobby Ameri-can officials in Morocco, and to target the press, Congress, government officials, and members of civil society in the United States. In Morocco, the Sultan regularly sent emissar-ies, such as Abdelatif Sbihi, founder of the Roosevelt Club, to meet with American officials and explain to them the Moroc-can position. The Sultan’s strategy was to stress the national-ist movement’s anti-communist stance and to confirm his rejection of violence as a means to pursue independence. The Sultan also backed American positions in their commercial disputes with the French colons. In the United States a relentless campaign was carried out by Moroccans to convince Americans of the worthiness of the Moroccan cause. On July 7, 1947, the New York Times re-ported that a bloc of nationalist parties from North Africa were to register with the State Department to advocate for North African independence. The bloc was to be headed by the Moroccan Dr. Mehdi Bennouna, who opened the first bureau at 930 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Soon thereafter, Bennouna’s group began to issue a periodic newsletter enti-tled The Present Situation in Morocco, addressed to the United Nations representatives and US government officials. Later on, Mehdi Ben Abboud, who after independence be-came the first Moroccan Ambassador to the US, opened an office in Washington, which he called the Moroccan Office of Information (MOI), and which engaged US public as well as government officials more vigorously than the New York

office. The MOI later changed its name to the Moroccan Of-fice of Information and Documentation (MOID) and began in 1952 to publish the Moroccan News Bulletin (MNB), and a supplement, Free Morocco (FM), when the Bulletin proved successful. FM articles were designed to provide an in-depth analysis of the trajectory of Morocco-US relations, which date back to the 1790s, and to show how the French presence in Morocco was hindering this valuable relationship. FM also used its pages to distance the Istiqlal (independence) party from communism, without neglecting to issue veiled warn-ings that US neutrality toward the North African question would only push the Moroccans toward Reds. In addition to the various newsletters, Ben Abboud, Ben-nouna, and other Moroccan and Arab immigrants to the United States monitored the US media for coverage of the North African situation and regularly sent letters to the editor correcting or countering one-sided claims in these papers. In the Washington Post of December 31, 1951, Mehdi Ben Ab-boud wrote a succinct letter arguing that American strategic and commercial interests would be better protected by the Moroccans than by the French. He also attacked French poli-cies and violations of basic Moroccan human rights. He re-vealed, for example, the injustice of protectorate laws forbid-ding Moroccans from joining labor unions. This gained the Moroccan cause the sympathy of the powerful American la-bor unions. In a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Com-mittee, Matthew Woll, Chairman of International Labor Rela-tions Committee of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), denounced French abuses of basic human rights in Morocco and reproached US implicit support of French actions. Despite this effort by the nationalists and the Sultan in Mo-rocco and in the United States, the American government maintained its official support for French presence in North Africa because of the strategic calculations of the Cold War. However, US officials facilitated the nationalists’ presence in the United States. The US consulate in Tangier issued travel documents to Mehdi Bennouna to come into the country. Similarly, Washington ordered the release of Allal Elfassi, who was jailed in Miami for two days because his only travel document was an Egyptian laissez passer. Other nationalists were also allowed in with non-Moroccan travel documents. Ahmed Belafrej had a Pakistani passport; Abderrahman Ab-delali, an Indonesian; Mehdi Ben Abboud, a Yemeni; and Ahmed Belafrej carried an Iraqi passport. But all of them were allowed to participate in the UN general assembly in New York and present the Moroccan case to the world. The nationalists succeeded in making their cause heard; the world body no longer considered the Moroccan question a French internal matter. Morocco finally gained its independence from France in 1956. Its relationship with the United States continued to be strong, and the Kingdom served as a regional bulwark against Communism during the Cold War. Morocco also used its good relations with the United States to lobby Washington for Algerian independence, which in turn was achieved in 1962. Mr. Talal Belrhiti can be contacted using the MyAMPA member platform.

Morocco In History

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Young Moroccan Entrepreneurship Contest By AMPA Member Talal Belrhiti

After a spirited round of applause, and a moment of anticipating silence, the contest jury announced the first-prize winner of the Young Moroccan Entrepreneur Competition. It went to Hybryda, a Biotechnology services and development company that is the brainchild of three bright young Moroccans from the Mohammedia Engineering School. This came at the end of an intense back-to-back set of presentations by young Moroccan aspiring entrepreneurs. They were in teams and in solo, young men and women with different backgrounds, but all committed to young, prosperous, and dynamic Morocco. They all presented their ideas, the forecasted budget, the SWOT and more with great enthusiasm and passion. The contestants were allowed 15 minutes to make their presentations, which was strictly enforced by the event’s moderator, Omar Tazi. This was followed by a question and answer session, during which the contestants witnessed pointed questions from the audi-ence and from the six-man jury panel. The contestants listened intently and answered each question, defending their work, but also accepting some of the critiques. At the end of every presentation and Q&A session, Jury Chairman Dr. Mohamed Elmandjra, CEO of ViOptix, inc. and AMPA honorary member, delivered a bulleted, closing message, highlighting the advantages and the disadvantages of each business plan, and made recommendation of how to improve it. The first prize was 3,000 USD, the second 2,000 USD and the third 1,000 USD. These were the monetary prizes, but all of the con-testants were winners that day; Maroc Entreprendre, a network of Moroccan businesspeople that supports and assists young Moroccan entrepreneurs, will continue to mentor and counsel all of the participants until their plans become a reality. Hicham Smad, the director of Maroc Entreprendre, and a member of the jury, set a meeting day for the participants to begin training and to benefit from coaching and mentoring. The three winners were automatically guaranteed a loan from Attijariwafa Bank in addition to the business coaching they are to receive for a duration of three years. The event was cosponsored by the AISEC-Morocco, the world’s largest student organization’s chapter in Morocco. AISEC-Morocco executives, along with professors from the Institute of Higher Education in Morocco, screened the candidates and selected the top ten who presented their proposals that day. The event was a great success, with a very high turnout of AMPA members, traveling from the Unites States, university students from Morocco, and many members of the Moroccan American Community. During lunch and two coffee breaks all of the attendees had a chance to meet one another and exchange ideas and contact information. By the end of the day in Rabat, AMPA and AIESEC had succeeded in creating an event, which garnered the energies of a group of talented young Moroccans and business leaders to create sustainable solutions and a better tomorrow.

Event News: Morocco Event Coverage

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Event News: Morocco Event Coverage Business Sessions & Networking

• 4 Business sessions • ONA Cocktail dinner • YPO dinner • 20+ guest speakers • Over 200 total attendees • 53 US attendees

Minister Mohand Laenser, Citigroup CEO Nuhad Saliba, and AM-CHAM Chairman Larry Dewitt on their way to the conference room

Gomez Chief Technology Officer Imad Mouline presenting during the Telecom & Technology session AMPA Events VP Hicham Kabbaj gives a welcome speech on

03/15/06. Hicham invited MAC to organize the same event in the US.

Yummy food at the ONA dinner! Group Picture at the ONA headquarter

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Event News: Morocco Event Coverage AMPA Persona of the Year AWARD AMPA is pleased to announce that Mr. Mohammed Salem Ammagui was awarded the 2005 Persona of the Year Award for his contributions to AMPA in particular and to the Moroccan Community in the US in general.

AMPA Leadership AWARD

AMPA is pleased to announce that AMPA Treasurer Rym Fizazi and MAC Board Member Majid Iraqui were recognized with a Leadership Award for their outstanding performance in organizing the Morocco event. Rym Fizazi had traveled to Morocco a month prior to the event and represented the AMPA Events Team within all the local organizational and logisti-cal aspects. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The AMPA management team wishes to thank all AMPA members who volunteered their time over a four month period to plan and organize the three day event. As such, the AMPA event committee wishes to thank all its volunteers for their valuable contribution without whom this event would not have been a success. Those volunteers were: Fatiha Coulombe (GA), Kevin Rafiq (DC), Abdellah Farhane (GA), Zakaria El Goumiri (DC), Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi (NJ), Abdelali Jbili (DC), Mohamed ElMandjra (CA), Mehdi Bousfiha (NY), Faiza Laghrari (GA), Jamal Houmaoui (CA), Khalil Jai Hokimi (DC), Hicham Kabbaj (TN), Khalid Nahi (MA), Omar Tazi (CA), Jamal Eddine Benmira (TX), Rym Fizazi-Hokimi (DC), Aly Horma (NY), and Akram Benmbarek (CA). A special thanks goes to our sponsors who dedicated their time and resources to aiding AMPA in this endeavor.

Royal Air Maroc’s Mr. Ammagui proudly displaying his well deserved AMPA Award

Mr. Ammagui making an award acceptance speech.

AMPA President Khalil Jai Hokimi presenting Majid Iraqui with a Leadership Award

AMPA Honorary Member Mohamed Elmandjra presenting Rym Fizazi with a Leadership Award

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PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIALS: "As a Moroccan American, and an executive at Boeing, which was a strong supporter of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Morocco, I can speak directly to the benefit and value the AMPA brings in fostering closer economic ties between our two countries and encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship and partnership across our two cultures." Ihssane Mounir (Sponsor), Boeing Commercial Airplanes "I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you for a job well done in getting the AMPA-MAC event organized. I had a great time participating, networking and learning. It was really a pleasure to see so many professionals both from the US and from Mo-rocco share their visions and experiences. Again thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet." Meryem Aqallal (Attendee), ONA "Bravo à toute l'équipe AMPA qui a fourni un travail colossal pour obtenir, à distance, une organisation parfaite d'un évènement qui est appelé à prendre de l'ampleur. Encore bravo pour une première. Malgré les milliers de kilomètres qui nous séparent, votre cœur vous pousse et vous poussera encore à plus de solidarité avec le Maroc et les marocains. D'ailleurs, vous avez tous constaté que nos jeunes sont pleins de potentialités qui ne demandent qu'à s'exprimer moyennant un petit coup de pouce venant, pourquoi pas, de l'AMPA. Prêts pour la prochaine fois?" Amine Achour (Jury Member) , Rabat Centre Régional d'Investissement "Je souhaite saisir cette occasion pour vous féliciter ainsi que tous les membres de l'AMPA des efforts considérables réalisés en vue de participer au développement de votre pays d'origine, le Maroc. Primer les meilleurs business plan (BP) est une action créatrice de valeur très citoyenne qui permet de donner la chance à une catégorie de jeunes promoteurs ne pouvant pas d'habitude accéder facilement aux mécanismes de financement traditionnels. Je réitère tout notre soutien à vos manifestations et nous resterons à l'écoute de vos actions." My Ahmed Cherkaoui (Jury Member), CDG "I have been delighted to participate in the 3 days event organized by AMPA from the 13th to 15th of March 2006 in Morocco. I have been surprised by the quality of the business projects that have been submitted to the jury and we have already received at Réseau Maroc Entreprendre these young entrepreneurs to study with them how we could finance their start-ups and coach them dur-ing a period of three years. We are looking forward to participate in the next event that AMPA will organize in the US or Morocco". Hicham Smad (Jury Member), Réseau Maroc Entreprendre "One of the objectives of Al Akhawayn University is to provide channels for Moroccan brains and professionals abroad to contribute to Morocco. I believe this event had one of the highest concentrations of such professional brains, who further combine a dynamic but focused attitude most typical of the American business environment. I sincerely hope we can work together and implement a successful win-win model for sustainable joint activities in Morocco. " Dr. Amine Bensaid (Attendee), Al Akhawayn University "La manifestation AMPA a été pour moi une occasion de toucher de près le dynamisme et le volontarisme de la diaspora du Maroc au Etats-Unis. Compétences, sens de l'écoute et efficacité sont les mots que viennent à l'esprits en pensant à cette conférence... A refaire! » Hamza El Hajoui (Sponsor), CDG "Cela a été un réel plaisir pour moi de participer activement à la première rencontre AMPA-MAC 2006. Bravo pour cette initiative pleine d’ambitions communes pour notre Pays. » Farid Bennis (Biotech Speaker), Laprophan "J'ai eu grand plaisir à participer à l'évènement AMPA-MAC. Ce qui est excitant c'est de pouvoir ainsi mêler au travers de notre référentiel Maroc, des horizons de cultures fortement différentes, portés par des compatriotes... La globalisation marocaine est ainsi en route. Faisons en sorte que notre pays en reste le centre." Karim Zaz (High Tech Speaker), Maroc Connect “The AMPA-MAC meeting was to me a bridge of hope. I was impressed by the quality of sessions but mostly by the participants: brilliant, ambitious, determined and full of energy. After this event I have no doubts about the future of this country. So I allowed myself this dream: 'Morocco: the third Silicone Valley'. Let's conspire to make it come true. Today, more than ever before, I am con-vinced we can do it, with or without the FTA, why not after all?” Nabila Freidji (Attendee), CASH ONE

Event News: Morocco Event Coverage

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Morocco first Arab state to hold NATO meeting ArabicNews.com, 3/10/2006 The meetings will be held for two days in the Moroccan capital Rabat on April 6th and 7th under the chairmanship of NATO's secretary general Jakob Gijsbert (Jaap) de Hoop Scheffer. The meeting will include the ambassador of the NATO's 26 member states as well as ambassadors and political leaders from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mo-rocco, Mauritania and Tunis as well as Israel. It will, in particular discuss "the Mediterranean" dialogue which NATO aims to convert into an original partnership. King Mohammed VI launches construction works of Marina de Casablanca MoroccoTimes.com, 03/27/06 The Monarch presided over the signing ceremony of three conventions related to the programme of the re-gional tourism development of the economic capital. The first convention concerns the programme of develop-ing the city as a tourist and business destination at a budget of approximately MAD 8 billion. It is also centered on reinforcing the means of the Regional Council of Tour-ism of Casablanca (CRT). The second concerns the Ma-rina de Casablanca. The third pertains to the projects accompanying this project, aiming at improving the archi-tectural quality of the city, upgrading the Royal Armed Forces Avenue, reinforcing regional reforestation and developing a green belt round the city. Morocco, MCA reach agreement on projects to be funded MoroccoTimes.com, 03/29/06 During the opening ceremony of the national participative workshop on the programmes to be submitted to the Ac-count, held on March 28-29, Jettou underlined that “we have reached an agreement with our partners in the MCA on the first part of the Moroccan proposition which is made up of three programmes.” The first programme aims at improving agricultural productivity in the regions where poverty is rampant. The second targets the safe-guard of oases. As for the third programme, which relates to the National Initiative for Human Development, Jettou stressed that this initiative “is meant to fight poverty di-rectly in the most deprived rural communes and urban excluded areas.” Morocco sets up observation network to check up migrating birds MoroccoTimes.com, 03/31/06 An observation network concentrating on 40 Moroccan humid zones has been set up to reinforce the preventive measures against avian flu. The network aims to check up the state of migrating birds which gather in large num-bers in the targeted zones. The areas include the marshes of low Loukous, the lagoon of Marja Zarga (Moulay Bouselham), the lake of Sidi Boughaba (Mehdia), the coastal lakes of Sidi Foamed-Oualidia, the mouths of wadi Souss and wadi Massa, the coastal lake Khnifess (Tarfaya) and the gulf of Dakhla.

Moroccan-Spanish project to rehabilitate Tetouan old medina MoroccoTimes.com, 4/1/2006 The Municipal Councils of Tetouan and Cordoba agreed to collaborate to rehabilitate the old medina of Tetouan by creating a workshop of training in this field in Morocco. UAE investments in Morocco reach MAD 50 billion MoroccoTimes.com, 4/2/2006 The president of the group ‘Emaar', Ahmed Al Abbar, said that “the entire UAE investments in Morocco reached re-cently MAD 50 billion, which will create about 30,000 job opportunities.” Al Abbar, who was invited to the first Moroc-can local channel TVM to assist “Ma'a Al Hadat” broadcast, said these investments carry projects for upgrading and evaluating tourist and residential potentials, adding that these projects will bring about other foreign investments that can respond to the Moroccan economic potentialities and human resources. PJD rules out any alliance with Istiqlal MoroccoTimes.com, 4/2/2006 The Secretary General of the Party of Justice and Develop-ment (PJD) Saâd Eddine El-Othmani rejected any form of alliance with the Istiqlal Party so long as it belongs to the ‘Koutla' (parliamentary alliance comprising the Istiqlal Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and the Socialism and Progress Party). Sahara issue : 'The UN will not impose any solution' MoroccoTimes.com, 4/7/2006 “The UN will not impose any solution,” stressed the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Morocco intends to present an autonomy project to the UN next April, so as to find a solution to the Sahara conflict. Mr. Annan also underlined that he is contacting the parties concerned and collecting some information to incorporate in the report he will present to the Security Council. Last week, a non-governmental American organisation had voiced its deception and indignation over Annan's accepting to meet with the Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz, who is, it said, “a real war criminal.” Answering the question whether he would include “concrete proposition” to settle the problem in this future report, Annan refused to disclose details before the Security Council's meeting.

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