Morocco - Economic
Market Access, Rural Outreach & Crafts – this program is expanding the marketing and sales of artisan products in several villages and towns throughout Morocco. The program aims to assist low-income artisans through product development, various training courses, and market linkages to the United States.
Agricultural Strategy – Assistance preparing an agricultural sector strategy was provided to the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture to better position Morocco for a World Bank Structural Adjustment Loan.
Zagora Women’s Technology Project – this program strengthens women’s effective participation in society by providing local NGOs with skills in computer technology, economic knowledge toward obtaining professional careers, and the ability to train other members both in their NGOs and other local organizations. Through this project, 40 women from 20 NGOs in an underserved region of Morocco will receive a variety of training intended to build their skills and teach them to train others, so as to create a multiplier effect that can spread key reforms across a much wider segment of society.
G-8 BMENA Entrepreneurship Center – Announced during the first Forum for the Future, held in Rabat in 2004, plans are underway to establish one of two Entrepreneurship Centers (the second launched in late 2005 in Bahrain) in Morocco, partnering with Al Akhawayn University.
Rural Tourism Development – the Morocco Rural Tourism (MRT) Program is working to diversify the Moroccan rural economy, particularly with respect to meeting the challenges of the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA). MRT provides assistance to increase the positive economic and social benefits of tourism to Morocco by developing and promoting competitive market-ready tour packages and attractions in rural areas, improving the efficiency and responsiveness of the responsible agencies, and providing functional training to improve the delivery of services to an international client.
MEFTA Assistance – the U.S. Customs Bureau and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are providing technical assistance to the Moroccan and Bahraini governments to help them implement a customs regime in compliance with their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) obligations.
MEFTA Assistance – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing technical assistance to Morocco and Bahrain to increase their capacity to comply with their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) obligations in the area of good domestic environmental governance. This program includes ensuring effective environmental legal and enforcement regimes, public participation, integrated environmental impact assessment decision making processes, access to information and justice, increased transparency, effective measures to combat corruption in the environmental sector, and the capacity to measure the effectiveness of environmental laws and enforcement programs.
Partnership for Financial Excellence Part I – this technical assistance program, led by the Financial Service Volunteer Corps, helped strengthen the financial systems of Morocco, as well as Egypt and Jordan, by promoting investment and employment growth in those countries.
Partnership for Financial Excellence II – In Morocco, FSVC has established an office and is conducting a series of workshops with the commercial banking sector to improve risk management and SME access to finance. Additional projects are being conducted with the Central Bank of Morocco to modernize commercial bank supervision and regulation, and with the Casablanca Stock Market to improve operations and pension fund management. In addition, the U.S. Department of Treasury, in an effort to combat money laundering, will be sending an advisor periodically to work with the Moroccan Central Bank.
Morocco Free Trade Area Assistance – this business development program fosters joint venture and investment relationships between U.S. and Moroccan companies, professional exchange programs, and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) education programs.
Expanding US-Morocco FTA Website – a MEPI small grant provides a second year of funding to continue operations for the successful Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Website, enabling the American-Moroccan Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) to improve its capacity to address the MEPI priorities of supporting local civil society, foster networks, advancing practical applications of crosscutting technologies, providing public diplomacy plans, and extending a network of reform-minded individuals and groups. By adding two new features – a Discussion Forum for FTA-related Issues and an Online Employment Database – AmCham hopes to enhance the benefits of the FTA and further contribute to Morocco’s economic growth.
Tamout
Trees as Income – Through this program, 80,000 fruit trees were provided to families in the Fez- Meknes corridor, offering them an alternative source of income. Each family was trained how to cultivate and care for the trees.
Twin City Linkages – this grant was used to hold a conference in April 2005, bringing together heads of NGOs, city officials, royal palace representatives, speakers from several key institutions, and the general public as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the Tangier-Baltimore/Annapolis Twin City committees. The overarching purpose of this event was to support networks and linkages among key reform-minded individuals and organizations in both countries.
Capitalization of Micro-Finance Institutions – this U.S.-North Africa Economic Partnership (USNAEP) activity works in concert with other U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiatives to develop a better business environment in Morocco, which includes increased access to capital. The funds provided by this program support amendments to existing portable loan guarantees to provide increased borrowing authority by two micro-finance institutions, Al Amana and Zakoura.
Strategic Objective Agreement for Agriculture – this program is part of a broader U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) strategy that is being designed to reform the Moroccan agriculture sector. MEPI program funding will be used to strengthen Moroccan agricultural associations.
Small-to-Medium-Enterprise Skills Strengthening –This grant is being used to strengthen skills among entrepreneurs and business people working for small and medium-sized enterprises in Morocco through targeted training of business managers and through direct consulting at the firm level. Program implementation on the ground involves a select group of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) students the University of Michigan.
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