The regional export meetings, which stopped in Safi last week, were an opportunity to prospect the export potential of companies established in the Doukkala-Abda region, declared the Minister Delegate in charge of Foreign Trade, Mohamed Abbou. In a statement to the press on the occasion of this conclave with operators in the region, the minister stressed that such a meeting also aims to identify the problems and obstacles to export for companies in the region, as well as to promote the possibilities offered by the free trade agreements concluded between the Kingdom and several countries. This meeting also aims to allow the government and the relevant ministry to diagnose the export situation at the regional level in order to develop a global vision of the potential of the offer and integrate appropriate promotion actions within the framework of the national programme for the development of trade exchanges recently adopted by the government, he explained. Speaking during this meeting, the Wali of the region and Governor of the province of Safi, Abdelfatah Labjioui, took care to recall the potential of the region which occupies the second position in terms of exports just after the Casablanca region, with a volume of 21% and a turnover of 39.4 billion DH for the 2009-2012 period. He insisted on the importance of the agricultural, industrial, and mining resources of the region, recalling the high solicitude of HM King Mohammed VI to further develop this region through the projects inaugurated or launched recently by the Sovereign, notably the new mining port, the power plant, and the El-Jadida-Safi motorway. The meeting was marked by the testimony of small and medium-sized enterprises that participated in promotion programmes initiated by the ministry. The debates also focused on various issues related to export and the means to transcend obstacles to foreign trade.