Rabat - The European Union (EU) is a strategic partner for Morocco and its first commercial customer, head of government, Abdelilah Benkirane, said here Tuesday.
Rabat – The European Union (EU) is a strategic partner for Morocco and its first commercial customer, head of government, Abdelilah Benkirane, said here Tuesday.
The dynamism of relations between the two parties is based on the volume of economic exchanges and the strategic vision reinforced by geographical proximity, the depth of historic ties and the presence of a large Moroccan community in European countries, said Benkirane who was speaking at the monthly meeting on the government’s general policy before the House of Advisors (upper house).
The EU, which is Morocco’s leading supplier with a rate of 52.7 per cent of imports, also accounts 63.6 per cent of Morocco’s total exports, said the head of government, noting that the volume of trade with EU countries reached 330 billion dirhams in 2015.
Imports increased by 22.9 billion dirhams during the 2011-2015 period, rising from 170.2 to 193.1 billion dirhams, while exports increased by 34.5 billion dirhams during the same period to reach 137.2 billion dirhams compared to 102.7 billion dirhams in 2011, Benkirane noted.
Non-agricultural products dominate trade between the two sides with a rate of 85 per cent, he added.
On the other hand, Benkirane said that the National Industrial Acceleration Plan aims to create momentum between SMEs and consolidate the position of the industrial sector as the main source of job creation.
Morocco’s economic and trade reforms undertaken in recent years have contributed to the diversification of sources of development and improvement of the overall performance of the national economy, which will enable the country to tap new emerging markets, particularly as part of South-South partnership.
With MAP
