Business & Money | Friday 27 March, 2015 12:01 am |

A large delegation from the Moroccan public and private sector organizations will be present at this year’s Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) Congress in Dubai this month. Ministerial delegations accompanied by Moroccan Investment Promotion and Development agencies will be here to present investment opportunities and find new business partners. High level delegates from across sectors such as transport, infrastructure, logistics, industry, agriculture, tourism, energy among other industry sectors will be meeting with UAE Business leaders and UAE Government authorities to discuss the Moroccan value proposition and attract potential investors.
With a combined GDP of $1.75 trillion, GCC countries provide a robust and growing market where demand is considerable for Morocco’s agricultural and other exports. Most of Morocco’s trade is currently with the EU, with which it has an association agreement. However, diversification is necessary to immunize Morocco’s exports against recurrent recessions in the euro zone. The country remains a favorite destination for investment and is the second largest FDI recipient in Africa among non-oil-exporting countries. In 2013, FDI exceeded $3.4 billion in 2013, a jump of 23 percent from previous year.
Overall, the Kingdom has devised strategies for sectors such as industry, tourism, energy, chemicals, it, logistics and agricultural sectors. The ‘Industrial Acceleration Plan’ will extend over the 2014-2020 period and aims to generate half a million jobs in the sector and substantially increase the share of industry in GDP from the current 14% to 23%. Green Morocco Plan is set to increase the agriculture GDP by an additional 10 billion USD. The country’s logistics plan aims to decrease logistics cost by 5 GDP points to reach 15%.
Apart from these, Morocco’s close proximity to Europe, Africa and the Middle East also makes it a fine destination for businesses to invest in this market.
Morocco has everything going right for it as a country and economy. The country has a GDP of US$ 100bn and GDP per capita of US$3500. The economy has been steadily growing at an average growth rate of 4.9% over the last five years. The Mediterranean country has a steady political environment and strong macroeconomic drivers. It was rated the no.2 African country of the future by one of London’s leading Financial daily in 2013-14.
The delegation at the AIM Congress in Dubai is here to further strengthen the bilateral and strong historical relations between the UAE and Morocco as well as showcase the most promising sectors of investments in Morocco as a whole.
Currently, the new sector specific strategies based on the comparative advantage of the Moroccan economy such as the ‘Industrial Acceleration Plan’, ‘Vision 2020 for tourism’, ‘Rawaj Plan for Trade’, ‘Green Morocco Plan’ for agriculture, ‘Halieutis Plan’ for fishing industry are all aimed at inducing a sustainable growth.
Morocco attained economic liberalism way back in the 1980s and since then has adopted a policy of economic openness and financial support.
This policy was aiming at greater trade liberalization, better integration of the Moroccan economy into the business world and strengthening the multilateral trading system. A significant progress has been made in the modernization of economic and financial structures and the upgrade of the legal and institutional framework to reinforce the Moroccan policy’s dynamic.
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About Morocco:
For more information on Morocco kindly log on to www.invest.gov.ma.