RABAT, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan government has approved 48 new investment projects worth 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in various sectors, the prime minister's office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The projects will create 6,190 direct jobs and 13,952 indirect ones, the statement said following a meeting of the Inter-ministerial Investment Commission under the chairmanship of Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani.

The breakdown of investments by sector shows a strong predominance of the industry sector with nearly 2 billion dollars, representing nearly 59 percent of the total investments submitted to the committee.

Seawater desalination projects hold the second position with nearly 11 percent of the planned investments, while transport sector ranks third with 10 percent of investments.

About 85 percent of the investments projects are funded by Moroccan investors, and the rest is by partnership between local and international partners. Enditem