Morocco: a prospective market.

Good commercial relationships between Morocco and Spain are well known. For many years Spanish firms have expanded their business into this country, more than 800 firms are already settled there and more than 20.000 SME currently export to Morocco. The trade balance between this two countries has reach 2.300 million Euros, in fact in 2012 Spain has represented the main commercial partner to Morocco above France.

In general terms the country undergoes a modernization process in different aspects; administrative, financial, banking or fiscal. They are giving support and special assistance, as well as preferential treatment to foreign companies interested in creating or establishing a subsidiary company in the country.

In a population of 33 million people in which 5 million speak our language, 40% is economically active and the 64% is under 34 years old, so the Morocco government is also paying attention to their work force training and the new generation education, increasing the quality and the expenditure on them.

The Morocco economy hasn´t been affected by the crisis, the PIB is expected to reach a growth of 4, 8% this year and the industrial activity is dynamic and diversified. During the last decade, Morocco has achieved a great stability through some structural reforms and action plans that are now bearing fruits, some examples are “Plan Vert” (focus on food and agriculture sector which means the 19% of the PIB) or “Plan Emergence” (focus on the strategic sectors; off-shoring, automotive industry, electronics, aeronautics, textile, manufacturing industries or renewable energies). They are also making special efforts in the field of the renewable energies, not only to make most of their abundant natural resources but also to reduce their dependence on power imports.
An important achievement that must be point out in the last years is the infrastructure improvements on roads, motorway, railroads and high-speed train and international airports.

Nevertheless their competitive advantage is really based in Tangier-MED harbor, strategic import-export platform with a 1.200.000 container traffic in the first semester of 2013, they expect to be the largest container port in the Mediterranean and the Afro Atlantic basin in 2015. Barely 14 km from the European continent, is the city the meeting point between two cultures and two economies.
A lot of barriers had already been overcome in the complex Moroccan market, but so many others are still there, this is why is important to go with the support of GLOBALIDER, currently present in 18 countries in 4 different continents.
The market is the world.

Ana Sánchez

International Consultant.

Globalider