Moroccan Textile Industry Suffering
Morocco textile exports fell by 33 percent in January when all textile quotas expired, allowing countries like China to sell their products everywhere, Trade Minister Mustapha Mechahouri said Friday.
Egytex News Desk
Egytex
The minister spoke after meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, the official MAP news agency reported. The talks were focused on measures that the EU could take to support Morocco in the face of "the new givens."
The expiration of the Multifiber Agreement allows countries to sell their products freely. The agreement had limited competition from cheap Asian exports to the European Union and the United States. It was phased out over the last decade and ended Jan. 1.
During his visit here, Mandelson assured Moroccan officials of the "commitment of the European Union" to help Morocco important textile industry, MAP said. Mandelson had earlier visited Tunisia, another North African country threatened by the end of textile quotas.
Morocco textile industry represents a third of its manufactured exports and employs 200,000 people.
Source: Forbes.com
From the Egytex news archive, first published on 26 March 2005. Figures and names are as reported at the time.
