A research institute claimed that thehe trade opportunities of the Abraham Accords have not reached their full potential and are only scratching the surface, and called on Morocco and Israel to begin negotiating a free trade agreement.
Global trade has seen a notable breakthrough with the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and several countries in the Arab world in 2020. In some cases, trade has gone from non-existent to evolving into millions of dollars like this is the case with the United Arab Emirates.
But since the accords, trade between the signatory countries has increased at an “impressive pace”, noted the ThinkThank The Abraham accords peace institute, noting that trade between Israel and its former peace partners like Egypt and Jordan, increased significantly due to the positive momentum created by the Abraham Accords.
According to the same source, the trade opportunities of the Abraham Accords have not reached their full potential and “have only scratched the surface”, saying that the signatory countries have the opportunity to work together to expand the free -exchange, advancing the land route and expanding regional connectivity, which will “bring prosperity to their peoples in ways that were previously unimaginable”.
The American ThinkThank thus makes specific recommendations to Morocco, calling for negotiations to begin now for a free trade agreement, such as the one signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and the agreement pending signature between Israel and Bahrain. .
“These trade agreements would help facilitate the creation of a free trade area between the countries of the Abraham Accords. This would make it easier for Accord member countries to trade with each other and with other partners, including the United States,” the institute notes, arguing that the United States’ existing free trade agreements with Israel , Bahrain, Morocco and Jordan “could be used to establish such a common free trade area”.
According to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, trade between the Jewish state and Morocco reached $4.6 million in May 2023, representing a 4.55% increase in trade compared to May 2022.
Over the first 5 months of 2023, trade experienced a 110.06% increase in trade compared to the same period the previous year, reaching 33.4 million dollars.
This is the best development among the signatory countries after that displayed by the United Arab Emirates. For the month of May 2023, the Emirates and Israel exchanged for more than 298.4 million dollars, while the trade with Qatar evolved around 400,000 dollars.
In terms of tourism, in the same month observed, 300 Moroccan citizens visited Israel, the same number as in May 2022. And in the first 5 months of the year, 1,800 Moroccan citizens visited Israel, an increase 80% compared to the first five months of 2022.
For their part, Israeli tourists continued to make Morocco an important destination in May. Indeed, 20,750 Israelis flew to Morocco (up 16.35% from May 2022), according to the Israel Airports Authority.
Figures indicate the highest number of Israeli travelers to a country that signed the Abraham Accords after the United Arab Emirates, which attracted 95,043 Israelis in May 2023, representing a 23.01% increase from the same month Last year.