“Opportunities in the Israeli Market” is the title of the webinar organized by the Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX), in partnership with the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments and Exports (AMDIE), on Tuesday January 10, 2023, with the participation of the Israeli Liaison Office in Morocco, the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce.
This meeting is part of the support strategy dedicated to ASMEX member companies in order to observe more closely the various investment and export opportunities offered by the two countries in various fields, in particular, agri-food, textiles, sea fishing, health, safety, industry…
For Hassan Sentissi, president of ASMEX, “the Israeli market is one of the best performing markets in the Middle East, and which, for the two years following the bilateral agreement for the connection between the two nations, continues to attract investors. The main objective of this virtual meeting is to present a complete range of information services, allowing companies to be supported when defining their commercial strategies, as well as to expose the business opportunities to be seized at the level of the Israeli market. This webinar will be followed by a B2B mission in Tel-Aviv from February 27 to March 1 to allow Israeli contractors and operators to meet and establish win-win partnerships.
For its part, the AMDI was represented by Meryem Kabbaj, Head of the Electronic Aeronautics and Space Department, who pointed out that the volume of trade carried out, at the dawn of the two years of diplomatic agreement, is estimated at 130 million of dollars. A volume of exchanges in perpetual evolution, affecting trade and R&D, through industry 4.0, pharmaceutical industry, agri-food… A volume set to quadruple in the years to come.
Same observation on the side of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Youssef Zahoui, Head of the Trade Relations Division with Europe, indicated during his speech the positive and lasting impact of the standardization of bilateral relations between Morocco and Israel on the two economies. He did not fail to highlight the rise in imports and exports between the two markets, estimated at more than 203% of exports between the years 2014-2021, and a surge in imports with + 59% in 2021 compared to the same reference year.
It should be noted that Morocco monopolizes a very significant part of Israeli imports with a demand distributed as follows: 84% Citrus fruits, fresh or dried, 43% in Sardines and sardinella, 54% in the couscous category, 42% in tapestry hand-woven, 37% in canned mackerel and sardines, as well as a 49% market share in imports relating to
coats, capes and the like. This is without mentioning Morocco’s frank ambition to develop its exports to Israel, in terms of phosphates and derivatives, chemicals and para-chemicals, seafood processing industry and many other sectors.
As a result, and following the enthusiasm of investors, Israel plans to open a trade mission to Morocco in 2023. In his speech, Zeev Lavie, vice-president of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce (FICC), marked the frank and direct orientation of Israel to develop bilateral trade, thanks to the investments of Moroccans encouraged in this by the historical, cultural and economic ties between the two countries.
He also listed the many advantages offered by this country for Moroccan investors, in particular its strong demographic growth with:
∙ More than 9 million inhabitants and an estimate of 17 million inhabitants by 2050;
∙ A strong and developed economy: Israel is positioned as the 29th largest economy in the world during the year 2022, with a growth rate of 5.5%.
∙ High purchasing power.
∙ A rich and resilient economy: Israel is the 51st exporting country in the world and the 43rd importer.
∙ A strong presence of major retailers and brands in Israel.
∙ Easy and assured logistics.