The Minister Delegate in charge of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Mohcine Jazouli, on Monday called on Spanish economic operators to strengthen the Morocco-Spain partnership by presenting Morocco’s competitive advantages and the complementarity of Moroccan and Spanish industries.
The Hispano-Moroccan commercial partnership is already very successful with 20 billion euros in trade in 2022 and 800 Spanish companies established in Morocco.
Speaking at the opening of a high-level business meeting under the theme “Investing in Morocco for common prosperity” organized in Spain, the minister indicated that Morocco is the second non-European economic partner and the first African partner. of Spain and that Morocco has made Spain its first supplier and its first customer of Morocco.
Morocco is naturally evolving as a “regional investment center and serves as a gateway to Africa” (…) Our objectives are to achieve higher quality growth, generate employment opportunities and foster creation of wealth,” said the Minister, recalling that the Kingdom recently adopted a new Investment Charter to facilitate this process.
This new Charter, which has already strengthened investment governance, will further improve the business climate, facilitate investment procedures and provide substantial support for investment projects, he explained, adding that it will pave the way for significant economic growth, which will be both sustainable and inclusive.
For these reasons, the Minister called on Spanish economic operators to seize this momentum and commit to it, stressing that “over the past 20 years we have collectively multiplied trade by 5 and we must ensure that this trend remains strong”, referring to the 20 billion euros in trade.
Since 2011, trade has been on an upward trend, with growth of more than 10% per year, which represents an “incredible growth rate”, indicated the minister.
Indeed, for 11 years Spain has been Morocco’s number one commercial partner and customer, while Morocco is Spain’s second partner outside the European Union and number one in Africa, since Morocco is the main destination of Spanish investment in Africa and receives more than a third of all Spanish direct investment destined for the African continent.
In 2020, Spain had a stock of investments in Morocco of 1,944 million euros and has some 524 subsidiaries of Spanish companies and some 670 Spanish companies holding more than 10% of the capital of Moroccan companies under Moroccan law.
In 2021, Morocco exported around 7.3 billion euros to Spain, up 14.6% compared to the previous year. Likewise, it imported from Spain the equivalent of 9.5 billion euros, registering a growth of 29.2%.
These record figures represent respectively shares of 3% and 2.1% of the world share of Spain’s exports and imports.
This major progress is explained by “political relations between Morocco and Spain (which) have forged solid economic ties”, indicated the Minister Delegate.
And there is still significant room for improvement in terms of investment to be made, since there is potential “to align our value chains and capitalize on the synergies that exist between our countries”, he added. he indicates.
Regarding the reluctance of some of the Spanish economic players, the Minister noted that while some attribute this situation to a perception of competition between our countries, others recognize the common assets and the complementarity that exist between Morocco and Spain. , saying he was “convinced that our partnership offers remarkable synergy”.
“Many business opportunities await the two countries, especially in sectors such as automotive, textiles and agro-industry. These sectors provide fertile ground for collaboration and growth,” he noted.
Morocco has developed world-class infrastructure, and strengthened its traditional industries, including agro-industry, textiles and tourism, making them increasingly competitive, but also created flourishing sectors, such as automobile and aeronautics, noted Mohcine Jazouli,
The kingdom has entered “a new phase of development, with emphasis on attracting private investment” and “the horizon ahead is full of opportunities and by working hand in hand, we will achieve without any doubt to shared prosperity”, he declared convinced of the complementarity between the two economies.
He further pointed out that Morocco offers access to a consumer market of 2.5 billion people with more than 50 free trade agreements in place, while pointing out that Morocco’s young and talented workforce is “perfectly trained to meet the demands of the job market”.
The Morocco/Spain economic forum for which the Minister spoke, brings together nearly 150 Moroccan and Spanish business leaders, and is held in the wake of the Bilateral High Level Meeting (RHN), held in Rabat last February, and of the Bilateral Joint Declaration established following the meeting between King Mohammed VI and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, in April 2022 in Rabat.
This particular meeting was jointly organized by the Morocco-Spain Economic Council (CEMAES), the General Confederation of Enterprises in Morocco (CGEM), the Spanish Confederation of Entrepreneurial Organizations (CEOE) and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies (MICEPP), the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments and Exports (AMDIE) and the Regional Investment Centers of Rabat-Salé-Kenitra, Tangier-Tétouan -Al Hoceima and Marrakech-Safi.