The willingness to explore ideas and pioneer is a hallmark of Morocco, however many investors in the UK have yet to fully explore the opportunities the country can offer them.


The recent official launch of Morocco Now, Morocco's investment and export promotion brand, at the Design Museum in London, aims to show how the trade relationship between the UK and Morocco can be deepened. The Director General of the Moroccan Investment and Export Agency (AMDIE), Youssef El Bari, explains why UK investors should look at Morocco with new eyes.

Morocco has a great future… and I don't want the UK to miss out

Dr Andrew Murrison, UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy

What are the key markers of Morocco's success?

Our GDP tripled in less than two decades, and in 2021 Morocco's GDP growth recovered to 7.4 1Q3Q, driven in part by strong exports and remittances, supportive macroeconomic policies, and significant progress on COVID vaccines -19. We have maintained a stable inflation rate, below 2%, between 2010 and 2021. Statistics and ratings are useful to emphasize our progress, but they cannot capture the spirit of the Moroccan people who make all that happen. We have a well-proven track record in delivering mega infrastructure and competitive industrial clusters over the last 10 years, thanks to our young, dynamic, competitive and skilled workforce.

How would you characterize the assets that Morocco offers?

Under the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the last 20 years have seen Morocco build a competitive low-carbon production and sourcing platform offering access to 1.3 billion consumers in Europe, the US, Africa and the Middle East thanks to free trade. Agreements with more than 50 countries. In 2020, the industry accounted for 25% of the nation's GDP according to World Bank data. Exports have doubled in a decade, and we consider ourselves a prime geostrategically positioned location to invest in and export to the world, especially given our proximity to many key markets – Morocco is just 14km from Europe.

Our constant and consistent focus on creating sustainable industries that function well and are open to the world means that Morocco is now perfectly positioned to help cushion global impacts and provide solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, which are driving the world to remodel. Value chains. Those investing in our industrial clusters in Morocco often seek to reduce their dependence on sourcing from a single region, to limit distance from their home country, and/or seek to limit risk and adopt a more sustainable environmental strategy.

Morocco is now perfectly positioned to provide solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.

What does your recent visit to the United Kingdom mean for both countries?

In a word: opportunities. While there is an 800-year history of relations between our countries, we know there are more trade and investment synergies to explore. Most people don't know that Morocco is Africa's leading country in both passenger car manufacturing and aeronautics, for example. Our efforts to support the industry and our pioneering renewable energy mandate to decarbonise production are what have generated such impressive progress. It is time to highlight how stable and economically attractive Morocco is. We have invested heavily in creating world-class infrastructure and what we are achieving is impressive. As Lloyd's List says, "In less than two decades, Tangier Med has gone from an isolated, empty beach to the largest port in the Mediterranean." We also have Africa's first high-speed train.

Our diversified, future-proof industry platform is not well known to all UK investors, and we need to change that. Morocco is now our national brand that captures Morocco's value proposition and we aim to demonstrate how, today, the country is well equipped to face global economic challenges. We believe we have a drive to shine as one of the world's most attractive destinations for investment and trade. I am pleased to explain to our UK counterparts how we are now sustainable, competitive, well-tested and agile. We echo what Dr Andrew Murrison, UK Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Morocco, said during his keynote speech at the Morocco Now launch event in London: “I have a message for UK investors : You better get on this particular bandwagon, folks, because it's going places. “Morocco has a great future in the coming years and decades and I don’t want the UK to miss out.”

Source: FinancialTimes