LATEST ECONOMIC BRIEFINGS
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Prospective investors took note when it was announced in late July 2010 that Bulgaria’s largest steelmaker, Kremikovtzi, will be up for sale in mid-September 2010. The news comes four months after the company went into liquidation and a year after major creditors refused to approve a rescue plan for the ailing company.
EGYPT | 30.08.2010
The Egyptian Exchange 30 (EGX30), Cairo’s main stock market index, has had something of a volatile year in 2010, as it rallied through the first quarter, declined through much of the second and began to stage a moderate recovery in the third.
KUWAIT | 30.08.2010
Despite its relatively small population, Kuwait is firmly placed among the world’s most attractive and popular markets for international retail franchises. With a strong consumer and shopping culture and a young, growing and affluent population with an affinity for international brands, Kuwait offers an attractive market for leading retailers seeking to expand their footprint.
COUNTRY COVERAGE
Jobs, Tourists & the WEF
Morocco, Volume 62
08.04.2005
08.04.2005
While a major international competitiveness report recently ranked Morocco eighth out of 12 Arab states, it also warned that unemployment continued to be a major concern. One way to counter this, many in Rabat are saying, is that more effort should be put into boosting tourism.
The ranking was given by the Arab World Competitiveness Report for 2005, which was released the beginning of April by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
The report compared nations based on factors such as levels of corruption, education, per capita GDP and unemployment rates. Looking towards the future, it also called for continued economic, social and political development.
One of the potential risks the report identifies in particular is the coupling of continuing high unemployment rates with a rapidly expanding population, forecasting that this could end in disaster for many Arab countries. It warns that unless more private investment occurs and jobs are created, the situation could turn disastrous in the next five years.
In Morocco, the unemployment rate, which in the past has been closely influenced by the success of the agricultural sector, currently stands at around 10%, but is as high as 18% in urban areas. The report's figures suggest that like many other Middle Eastern and North African countries, Morocco needs to continue to work on building a more competitive private sector to create jobs - especially outside of agriculture.
With this in mind, Morocco has been investing a lot of money in recent years within the services sector, and particularly in tourism.
In 2003, this sector was Morocco's second-largest source of foreign currency ($3.01bn) and was responsible for providing 600,000 jobs directly and many more indirectly. The services sector itself was responsible for 52% of GDP in 2003, according to World Bank data, with industry, in comparison, only accounting for roughly 30%.
Building on this vital source of foreign income, the Ministry of Tourism has been working hard over the past three years - and with apparent success - at increasing the number of the country's annual visitors. In a report released early April, the ministry stated that this was one of the "best years since 2000".
Since the drop-off in numbers of visitors to Morocco after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, and then the bombing in Casablanca, the department has been working hard to increase its promotional and campaigning efforts, with what appears to be marked success.
Even last year's tourism numbers were higher than the previous year. According to the recent report, the 781,249 tourists that visited Morocco during the first two months of 2005 showed a 10% increase over the same two months of the previous year. In January alone there was a 13% increase. More than 47% of these visitors came from Europe, with 181,381 coming from France, followed shortly by Spain (101,935) and the UK (23,807).
Adil Douiri, the minister of tourism, also signed a partnership agreement recently that aims to expand the tourism industry still further. Local authorities, USAID, the Agency for Social Development and the High Commissioner for Water and Forests came together to invest Dh5.15m ($600,000) in a "tourist reception space" to be located in the area of Immouzer Idda Ou Tanane. The minister emphasised that this was one action in a broader effort to promote tourism in the more remote and rural mountain regions of Morocco.
Tourism should get an extra boost this month as well, from the 51st Southern Morocco Grand Fair, which, according to news source EMarrakech, started in the city at the end of March. The fair, which was sponsored by the city's Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIS), is made up of 320 stands selling a plethora of crafts and household goods. There are local companies participating in addition to exhibitors from a large international contingent, including France, Italy, Vietnam, Pakistan and the UAE. The fair will close on May 8.
Thus, Moroccan tourism is definitely on an upward path, while the country as a whole also fared much better in employment issues than some of the oil rich Arab countries featured in the WEF report. One example is women in the workplace. A recent MENA report showed that for the region, women have achieved high representation. In the services sector, 37% of all enterprises are run by women, who also control 31% of enterprises in the trade sector and 22% in industry. In education as well, women have a much higher representation than many of Morocco's Arab counterparts.
Yet addressing the problems of a growing work force will require plenty more commitment and investment by the authorities in Rabat as well as by businesses, as the population continues to expand - and if the spectre of further unemployment raised by the WEF is to be laid to rest.
The ranking was given by the Arab World Competitiveness Report for 2005, which was released the beginning of April by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
The report compared nations based on factors such as levels of corruption, education, per capita GDP and unemployment rates. Looking towards the future, it also called for continued economic, social and political development.
One of the potential risks the report identifies in particular is the coupling of continuing high unemployment rates with a rapidly expanding population, forecasting that this could end in disaster for many Arab countries. It warns that unless more private investment occurs and jobs are created, the situation could turn disastrous in the next five years.
In Morocco, the unemployment rate, which in the past has been closely influenced by the success of the agricultural sector, currently stands at around 10%, but is as high as 18% in urban areas. The report's figures suggest that like many other Middle Eastern and North African countries, Morocco needs to continue to work on building a more competitive private sector to create jobs - especially outside of agriculture.
With this in mind, Morocco has been investing a lot of money in recent years within the services sector, and particularly in tourism.
In 2003, this sector was Morocco's second-largest source of foreign currency ($3.01bn) and was responsible for providing 600,000 jobs directly and many more indirectly. The services sector itself was responsible for 52% of GDP in 2003, according to World Bank data, with industry, in comparison, only accounting for roughly 30%.
Building on this vital source of foreign income, the Ministry of Tourism has been working hard over the past three years - and with apparent success - at increasing the number of the country's annual visitors. In a report released early April, the ministry stated that this was one of the "best years since 2000".
Since the drop-off in numbers of visitors to Morocco after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, and then the bombing in Casablanca, the department has been working hard to increase its promotional and campaigning efforts, with what appears to be marked success.
Even last year's tourism numbers were higher than the previous year. According to the recent report, the 781,249 tourists that visited Morocco during the first two months of 2005 showed a 10% increase over the same two months of the previous year. In January alone there was a 13% increase. More than 47% of these visitors came from Europe, with 181,381 coming from France, followed shortly by Spain (101,935) and the UK (23,807).
Adil Douiri, the minister of tourism, also signed a partnership agreement recently that aims to expand the tourism industry still further. Local authorities, USAID, the Agency for Social Development and the High Commissioner for Water and Forests came together to invest Dh5.15m ($600,000) in a "tourist reception space" to be located in the area of Immouzer Idda Ou Tanane. The minister emphasised that this was one action in a broader effort to promote tourism in the more remote and rural mountain regions of Morocco.
Tourism should get an extra boost this month as well, from the 51st Southern Morocco Grand Fair, which, according to news source EMarrakech, started in the city at the end of March. The fair, which was sponsored by the city's Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIS), is made up of 320 stands selling a plethora of crafts and household goods. There are local companies participating in addition to exhibitors from a large international contingent, including France, Italy, Vietnam, Pakistan and the UAE. The fair will close on May 8.
Thus, Moroccan tourism is definitely on an upward path, while the country as a whole also fared much better in employment issues than some of the oil rich Arab countries featured in the WEF report. One example is women in the workplace. A recent MENA report showed that for the region, women have achieved high representation. In the services sector, 37% of all enterprises are run by women, who also control 31% of enterprises in the trade sector and 22% in industry. In education as well, women have a much higher representation than many of Morocco's Arab counterparts.
Yet addressing the problems of a growing work force will require plenty more commitment and investment by the authorities in Rabat as well as by businesses, as the population continues to expand - and if the spectre of further unemployment raised by the WEF is to be laid to rest.
