(by Diego Minuti) (ANSAmed) - ROME - In recent years Morocco has pulled in foreign direct investment totalling around 5 billion euro, but Italy is not among the top investors. Morocco is therefore set on stepping up its bid to attract capital from the Bel Paese and has decided that Italy must be the first European country to host a Moroccan economic promotion office (followed by Spain, Germany and France). The office would be more than just a representative unit, since it will have a difficult looking task: showing Italian investors the convenience of considering Morocco in their investment choices. The task is only ''apparently'' difficult because Morocco has decided to start up an aggressive economic policy, promising substantial tax breaks and a low cost of labour. The hopes have been pinned to the 'Maroc en mouvement' programme, which the country offers to potential investors. The job of running the office in Milan has fallen to Hamila Hadir, a double-graduate in chemistry and textiles, who has already lived in Italy for study and work before taking up a government post. ''Morocco does not only offer economic advantages'', said Hamila Hadir, ''but also its absolutely original character and, above all, political stability''. Mohamed IV's monarchical regime is aiming to modernise the country and the efforts so far undertaken have brought good results since ''giant leaps have been made'', according to Hamila Hadir, who also noted the king's choice to make a huge break with the past. By way of example, Hadir added: ''the king has chosen to have a single wife and to take her out in public, breaking with established tradition''. Nowadays, King Mohammed and his wife, Lalla Salma Bennadi (who also holds a science degree, specialising in computer science), are the symbols of a young Morocco (more than 50% of the population is under 35 years of age), which wants to see change, without dramatic revolutions but following a path of modernity and certainty. ''When we tell businesspeople to invest in Morocco,'' explained Hamila Hadir, ''we are not looking for them to delocalise their businesses, but we put ourselves forward as partners. For what we guarantee (cost of labour is around one euro per hour), but also the prospects that we offer with our recognition of the costs entailed in the training of Moroccan technicians and leaders by foreign businesses''. Morocco has already won several important gambles, like the port in Tangiers which experts say could surpass Rotterdam, in terms of containers shifted, by 2010 - thereby becoming the most important cargo port in Europe. However, other than its ties with the EU (through the special status assigned by Brussels), Morocco also has an eye on the United States, with which it operates a free trade agreement. ''That means that a businessperson that invests here can export its products without having to pay tariffs''. Why then, given all the advantages that Morocco offers, has Italian investment remained relatively low? ''Italy is Morocco's third trade partner'', said Hamila Hadir, adding: ''Morocco has somehow escaped investors' attention, as opposed to Romania, for example. My aim to change this trend and modify the image of my country''. Even if it has not been completely reached, this objective is certainly drawing nearer, as shown by the fact that after years of rejected applications, in 2009 Moroccan leather goods manufacturers will be present at Micam, the sector's most prestigious trade fair. (ANSAmed).