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<title>FIRST STAGE OF PETTIGREW TRADE MISSION TO THE MAGHREB A RESOUNDING SUCCESS</title>
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<p><font size="+1"></font><font size="+1"><strong>October 13, 2000 <em>(9:00 a.m. EDT)</em> No. 260</strong></font><font size="+1"></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>FIRST STAGE OF PETTIGREW TRADE MISSION </strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>TO THE MAGHREB A RESOUNDING SUCCESS</strong></font></p>
<p>Minister for International Trade Pierre Pettigrew today chaired a signing ceremony in Casablanca
related to contracts and agreements between Canadian and Moroccan firms. The signing
ceremony was part of the trade mission Mr. Pettigrew is leading to the Maghreb and the Iberian
Peninsula. The total value of the seven agreements could reach $90 million.</p>
<p>"Morocco is becoming an important trading partner for Canada," said Minister Pettigrew. "We
sense a real enthusiasm here for Canada and its expertise in a number of cutting-edge sectors.
Canadians, in turn, have been very impressed by the changes that have occurred in Morocco."</p>
<p>Sixty-nine Canadian firms have joined Mr. Pettigrew for the Moroccan leg of the mission.
Morocco is perceived as a highly promising market, with enormous human and natural resources
potential.</p>
<p>Yesterday in Casablanca, over 400 business people took part in an information session at which
Mr. Pettigrew and Mustapha Mansouri, the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Commerce, Energy
and Mines, discussed opportunities for business between Canada and Morocco.</p>
<p>In Rabat, Minister Pettigrew spoke with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco,
Abderrahmane El Youssoufi, and several other Moroccan government ministers, continuing the
excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.</p>
<p>This trade mission is already one of the largest to be led by a Canadian Minister for International
Trade. Approximately 100 representatives of Canadian business are accompanying Mr. Pettigrew
to one or more of the four countries on the itinerary -- Morocco, Algeria, Spain and Portugal --
from October 10 to 21.</p>
<p><strong>Firms that signed agreements in Morocco:</strong></p>
<p>• Bestar Radio Inc., a company in Ville-St-Laurent, Quebec, that specializes in wireless
telecommunications;</p>
<p>• Electromed, a firm from Montreal, Quebec, that specializes in cardiac digital imaging;</p>
<p>• Gestion Médicale Internationale, of Sillery, Quebec, which will provide advice on hospital
administration to the Casablanca Children's Hospital; </p>
<p>• Groupe Sykam, a firm from Laval, Quebec, that is helping to establish a plastics processes
institute and a biotechnology institute in Morocco; </p>
<p>• Progestic International of Ottawa, Ontario, and the Laboratoire Public d'Essais et d'Études,
which will be conducting a study of building maintenance management in Morocco;</p>
<p>• TMR Conseils et Expertises of Hull, Quebec, which in partnership with Informatrix Maroc will
design three software packages intended for the preparation of personal and corporate income
taxes in Morocco; </p>
<p>• World Export, a firm from Abbotsford, B.C., and Groupe Multimédia 2000 of Morocco, which
will partner to design a Web site to promote Moroccan exporters.</p>
<p align="CENTER">- 30 -</p>
<p>The accompanying backgrounder provides additional information.</p>
<p>For further information, media representatives may contact:</p>
<p>Sylvie Bussières</p>
<p>Office of the Minister for International Trade</p>
<p>(613) 992-7332</p>
<p>Media Relations Office</p>
<p>Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade</p>
<p>(613) 995-1874</p>
<p>Léopold Battel</p>
<p>Trade Counsellor</p>
<p>Embassy of Canada, Rabat</p>
<p>(07) 68 74 00</p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>Backgrounder</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>FIRMS SIGNING AGREEMENTS IN MOROCCO</strong></font></p>
<p><strong>Bestar Radio Inc. -- A Partnership that Could Go Far</strong></p>
<p>A specialist in wireless telecommunications research and development and in product
manufacture, Bestar Radio Inc. of Ville-St-Laurent, Quebec, will be setting up a plant in Morocco
to supply the markets of North Africa, Africa and the Middle East.</p>
<p>The objective is to offer universal access to wireless telephone services in urban and rural areas
of the countries of Africa and the Middle East, including access to the Internet, facsimile and
multimedia. In addition to the obvious commercial applications, the education and health sectors
will be able to benefit from the progress this project will bring to rural regions.</p>
<p>The initiative will create 30 jobs in Quebec and 50 in Morocco, with preliminary economic
benefits of $30 million in Quebec. La Financière Capitale, a Moroccan corporation, will be
responsible for financing, valued at over $60 million.</p>
<p>Bestar has also concluded a two-year agreement with the Moroccan company Cogetel for the
distribution of its various products for the wireless market. This agreement should generate $15
million worth of benefits, 80 percent of which will be in Quebec, in addition to creating five jobs.</p>
<p><strong>Electromed -- A First for Morocco</strong></p>
<p>A world leader in its field, Electromed of Montreal, Quebec, has installed a "System View" in the
Agdal medical clinic in Rabat, enabling the clinic to benefit from a new cardiac digital imaging
communication system.</p>
<p>This technology gives the clinic access to high-resolution images of beating hearts (30 images per
second) for the evaluation and treatment of patients. It also offers the advantage -- a first in
Morocco -- of being able to store the test results (on CD-ROM and in an archived databank) and
of facilitating distance consultation among physicians.</p>
<p>Electromed hopes that its entry into Morocco will be followed by numerous other business
opportunities in the country and the region. The firm intends to continue moving into Africa and
Europe, and is currently publicizing its expertise in Spain, Italy and Germany.</p>
<p><strong>Gestion Médicale Internationale -- In Collaboration with the Casablanca Children's
Hospital</strong></p>
<p>The Casablanca Children's Hospital is currently in the process of reforming its management
system. It has signed a letter of intent with Gestion Médicale Internationale, a company from
Sillery, Quebec, in order to benefit from Canadian expertise in the administrative restructuring of
hospitals, particularly in the fields of training, human resources and financial management.</p>
<p><strong>Groupe Sykam -- Developing Technical Training in Morocco</strong></p>
<p>Groupe Sykam, of Laval, Quebec, will be investing $10 million in Morocco to put to use its
expertise in research and development (R&D) and in delivering technical consulting services to
companies. It will contribute to the creation of a technopolis, which will include:</p>
<p>• an institute of plastics processes, to be operational shortly, consisting of an R&D centre on
plastics technologies and a training centre to meet the technology needs of the plastics industry in
Morocco; </p>
<p>• a biotechnology institute, comprising a research centre on biomaterials and their applications in
certain health fields, a preclinical testing centre and a health care unit focussing on orthopaedics
and serious burn victims.</p>
<p>It is expected that the first phase of this initiative will create 12 jobs in Quebec and 30 jobs in
Morocco. In the phases to follow, the number of jobs generated in Morocco could increase from
30 to 90.</p>
<p><strong>Progestic International -- A System to Manage Morocco's Building Heritage</strong></p>
<p>Following an international call for tenders, the Moroccan Ministry of Capital Programs has
selected Progestic International of Ottawa, Ontario, and the Laboratoire Public d'Essais et
d'Études (LPEE) to conduct a study, funded by the World Bank, on the design and establishment
of a building heritage management system for the ministries of National Education, Secondary
and Technical Education, Advanced Education and Health. This $514 000 study, which will
create five jobs in Ontario, is the first phase in the establishment of a system for ensuring the
maintenance of the various buildings of these ministries (approximately 20 000 structures). All
the maintenance work and the World Bank financing for this purpose could amount to more than
$100 million. Progestic and the LPEE have signed a partnership agreement to carry out the study.</p>
<p><strong>TMR -- Canadian Tax Expertise at the Service of Moroccans </strong></p>
<p>TMR Conseils et Expertises of Hull, Quebec, has reached an agreement with the company
Informatrix Maroc to jointly design three software packages:</p>
<p>• the first is for Moroccan taxpayers, to help them prepare their income tax returns; </p>
<p>• the second is for Moroccan companies, with their often complex tax requirements; and</p>
<p>• the third is for reproducing the forms that the Moroccan federal government requires firms to
fill out.</p>
<p>Valued at $1.5 million, this agreement should generate 25 jobs in Quebec and 25 jobs in
Morocco.</p>
<p><strong>World Export and Groupe Multimédia 2000 -- Promoting Moroccan Exporters on the
Web</strong></p>
<p>World Export, a private company in Abbotsford, B.C., that promotes Canadian exporters
internationally, and Groupe Multimédia 2000 of Morocco have signed an agreement to design an
Internet site to promote the many Moroccan companies working in the export sector.</p>
<p>With an investment of $600 000 from World Export and $400 000 from Groupe Multimédia
2000, this project will result in the creation of 15 jobs in Morocco. Annual fees from the
participating firms will provide a continuous source of funding.</p>
<p>Data from the Web site that will be designed pursuant to this agreement may be copied on CD-ROM or paper and then distributed free of charge by Moroccan trade missions, embassies and
consular offices in 128 countries.</p>
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