France, Morocco economic partnership deals

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Friday announced the signing of a raft of economic tie-ups with Morocco, alongside the sale of a naval warship to aid defence coordination.

"France is to sell a FREMM (European Multi-Mission Frigate) to Morocco," Fillon told a press conference in Rabat. "It is identical to those in the French fleet, which will make cross-naval cooperation straightforward." The agreements were originally reached in October during President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit, with the frigate contract compensating Paris after the collapse of a deal to buy Rafale fighter aircraft from French manufacturers Dassault.

The other major element was a grant of 75 million euros (120 million dollars) for a feasability study on a high-speed rail line between Tangiers, across the Gibralter Straits from Spain, and Casablanca on the Atlantic coast. The line would plug into France's TGV network, already extended across European borders, and Fillon said that during their lunchtime meeting, King Mohammed VI expressed his desire to see it extended inland to Marrakech.

France will also loan Morocco 150 million euros for the installation of a tram network in the capital Rabat, with two French companies -- Alstom and Colas -- having been chosen for the engineering project.

Judicial and social conventions make up the remainder of the package signed in the presence of Fillon's counterpart, Abbas El Fassi. Fillon said the ninth Franco-Moroccan intergovernmental seminar had shown that there is "not the slightest disagreement between France and Morocco" and that the two countries had a shared outlook which was "perfect".

AFP