Emirati Economy Minister Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri said trade between the UAE and Morocco amounted to more than 3.6 billion Emirati dirhams (nearly US$1 billion). ) in 2022, up 16% from 2021.
“Economic and trade cooperation is one of the main pillars of the bilateral and fraternal relations that unite the two countries,” said Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri during the first ministerial session of the Moroccan-Emirati Joint Economic Commission, indicating, in this sense, that trade between the two parties continues its upward trend and presents the threshold of 3.6 billion Emirati dirhams in 2022, up by 16%, 67% and 40% compared to 2021, 2020 and 2019 respectively.
The United Arab Emirates is also positioning itself, he added, as Morocco’s second Arab trading partner in the year 2021, and among the Kingdom’s top 20 trading partners in the world.
At the same time, Morocco is among the most important export and re-export markets from the United Arab Emirates to Africa, as well as among the top 10 African markets, a statement by the minister.
In terms of mutual investments, Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri said that the United Arab Emirates is the first Arab investor in Morocco and the second in the world, with a total investment value of nearly 14 billion dollars at the end of 2021. (21% of foreign direct investment in Morocco).
These investments relate to various sectors of common interest, in particular those of services, automotive, industry, telecommunications, agriculture, health, tourism and hotels, real estate and the pharmaceutical industry, he detailed.
For their part, Moroccan investments in the United Arab Emirates are experiencing significant growth and amounted to nearly 79 million dollars at the end of 2020, the Emirati minister said, noting that these investments relate to many important economic sectors, in particular the real estate, wholesale and retail trade, financial services, in addition to the insurance sector and a range of professional, scientific and technical activities.
Furthermore, the Minister noted that despite these achievements, there are many opportunities and promising prospects that must be exploited in an optimal way to serve the aspirations of both the Emirati and Moroccan business communities.
Chaired by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Fettah Alaoui, and his Emirati counterpart, this meeting was marked by the participation of senior officials from the two ministries and a number of public institutions and the private sector of the two countries. .