|
 It is an honor and privilege for me to represent Morocco a
country I have close association with. I am also chairman of Pak Morocco
Business Council of FPCCI. I always consider Morocco as my second home. Having
spent a considerable period of time during the last two decades of my life in Morocco,
the pride is mine in saying that my awareness of the country and its people has
instilled a great sense of belonging in me.
Now briefly I would tell you about the Kingdom
of Morocco known in Pakistan as Marakash
the country of Tariq Bin Ziyad the great warrior and Ibne Batuta the great
traveler.
The country is located at the gateway of Africa and Europe
bordered by the Mediterranean in the North and by the Atlantic in the west
being largely open on the Sahara desert. The
only Muslim country closes to Europe & America. Spain a European country is just a
few kilometers away by sea. Morocco
has always been the hub of history making.
 Morocco
is country of 30 million inhabitants. Arabic is the official language but French
is widely spoken as second language. MoroccoFrance in 1956. Morocco was having full support of Pakistan and its people during the struggle of
their independence from france.
was a French colony and got its independence from
The country has the honour of organizing three OIC
conferences. The first conference was held in 1969 in Moroccan city of Casablanca followed by
two more OIC conferences held in 1984 and in 1999.
 Morocco
has many attractions for tourist including a pleasant climate, ancient towns,
deserts, mountains range and landscape besides sea coasts of Atlantc and
Meditereanean. More than 6 million tourist visited morocco last year. Morocco is
becoming one of the privilege sites where international directors and producers
like to soot their films. About twenty to thirty American and European films
are made every year. They find the land stilmulating place for realizing their
imagination. Films like Lawrence of Arabia, Alexander, Othello, The man who
would be king, Mummy, Rules of Engagement, Gladiator, Spy Gain, Black Hawk
Down, Exorcist and Casablanca all picturized in Morocco.
Morocco
has a GDP of $66 billion with a per
captia income of $2000. the GDP growth last year was 8.5%, highest in that
region.
Agriculture is the main economy contributing 19% of the GDP
and employing 45% of its population. The industrial sector is contributing 35% of GDP and employing 25% of labour force.
The tourism is a very vital sector of economy. 6.5 million tourists contributed
US$ 6.5 billion last year to the country’s economy.
 Morocco
has vast mineral resources and phpsphate is the most important mineral which is
exported in large quantity. The Fauji Fertilizer and OCP (Office Cherifien des
Phosphates) morocco have entered into a first ever joint venture in morocco by
the name of Pakistan Maroc Phosphore S.A. at an estimated cost of US$24
million. It will produce 375,000 MT of Phosphric Acid tomeet the requirement of
FFBL for the production of DAP.
Pakistan
and Morocco
has always enjoyed close and cordial relation but the volume of trade between
the two countries does not justify the close bond of relation. Pakistan stands at 57th position in
the list of provider .e. Pakistan’s
share is 0.36% of Moroccan import.
For the year 2006
total export of Morocco was
US$20 billion Our export to Morocco was US$11.50 million where as import
from Morocco
was $147 million. I strongly feel there exists a great potential between the
two countries to increase bilateral trade and investment. It is my great honour
to represent this great country in Karachi, Sindh and to prove to be perfect
liaison between the two countries where I possess a wealth of exposure and
connections in the superlative way that would surely bring excellet results.
This column has been read 847 times
|
