Meeting with H E Driss Jettou, Prime Minister, Morocco
December 7, 2004, New Delhi

Address by H E Driss Jettou, Prime Minister, Morocco

In the Name of Allah Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

Excellency,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to express my heartfelt gratitude and deepest appreciation to Your Excellency for the very warm welcome and most generous hospitality extended to both myself and my accompanying delegation ever since we arrived in your great country. I also wish to voice the feelings of happiness we entertain as we endeavor together to strengthen and enrich the friendship and cooperation between our two countries to reach the levels desired by the leaders of our two nations, levels that will make our two brotherly people rejoice in pride.

Right Honorable Prime Minister, you are cognizant of the distinguished appreciation and care given by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to Indo Moroccan relations as evidenced by the state visit His Majesty made to India between February 26 and March 3, 2001 as well as of the ambition shared by both our governments to further develop our relations through the exchange of visits by our two countries' prime ministers.

The progress we have made in implementing the agreements we reached, during previous meetings, is a source of satisfaction and pride for ourselves.

Let us take this additional opportunity to again meet with economic operators to further strengthen our friendship and boost trade, cooperation and friendship between our two nations to levels equal to those of our political ties.

We stand convinced that the cooperation resources, potential and possibilities, that our countries share shall generate further opportunities to enhance our economic relations.

Morocco offers a rich and widely diversified potential as it is strategically located on both the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, within 7 miles from Europe and serves as a gateway to both Africa and the Arab world.

My country also offers tremendous natural and human resources as well as great potential in terms of its economy, agriculture, fisheries, tourism and promising mineral resources. Morocco is open to regional and global economies as it is bound to the European Union, the United States of America, Turkey and some Arab Mediterranean countries by free trade agreements.

Thanks to these agreements, Morocco endeavors to develop a tangible platform to conduct further trade with Africa, the Arab world, Europe, the Mediterranean and the United States of America. These efforts have started to come to fruition as we succeeded in attracting major companies with established global repute.

Morocco enjoys political stability, a stability that is continuously strengthened as we build a modern democracy in the spirit of freedom, openness and tolerance. This is a vision that is led and implemented with strong resolve and determinations by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, May God glorify His reign.

The major achievements made by our country in terms of making our economy more attractive through the provision of facilities and major infrastructure such as highways, seaports and airports, railroads and telecommunication networks as well as our determination to support areas where our country offers comparative advantages such as tourism, industry, new information and communication technologies, fisheries and agriculture further confirm our steadfast resolve to turn our nation into a regional economic hub where trade, foreign investment and capital shall thrive.

Morocco appreciates fully India's importance as a great modern democracy an its clout as an emerging economy with a bright future ahead as well as a major world market. Our hope is for this meeting of our business communities to broaden new scopes for joint cooperation that will serve to tap on the resources and potential offered by our nations.

In closing, I wish to confirm the Moroccan government's commitment to provide all facilities and support to economic and commercial initiatives made by our respective business communities in order to enhance Indo Moroccan cooperation to levels that will mirror our excellent political ties and that will serve as a role model for South South cooperation.

Thank you for your attention and May the Peace of Allah and His Grace be upon you all.