Italy to grant Morocco some $11m to fund development projects

15 Jan 2008

The Italian government has approved a donation amounting to some $11.3Mn to Morocco, as part of bilateral cooperation, to finance development projects and projects aimed at fighting poverty, planned this year.

A communiqué of the Italian embassy in Rabat notes that eight initiatives of Moroccan-Italian cooperation were approved and financed in 2007. They are particularly related to fighting poverty in conformity with The National Initiative for the Human Development (INDH), launched by King Mohammed VI in May 2005 to bring down poverty and fight social exclusion.

Another thirty initiatives, the communiqué goes on, are under way, amounting to some $310Mn for the period 2005-2007. Two further initiatives will be finalized in the region of Figuig (southeast) and in Tangier (north). They concern the development of the cultural heritage. Another project will be carried out to promote ecotourism, mainly in the region of Al Haouz (center).

In last December, a $2.5Mn was approved to support health services in the province of Settat (center).

Over 10 Italian NGOs are operating currently in Morocco. The total amount of Moroccan NGOs’ initiatives financed by the Italian government amounts to some $10Mn.

Source: Maghreb Arabe Presse