Rabat – Bankia, a Spanish lending bank, has opened a new office in Morocco to support the expansion of other Spanish companies abroad.
The new office is in Casablanca, where the country’s largest international and national corporations are located. Revenue from Casablanca based businesses constitute 32% of Morocco’s gross domestic product (GDP), says Investment Europe.
The managing director of Bankia’s international division, Jesus Miramon, told Investment Europe that “Bankia takes a step forward to continue backing Spanish businesses wherever they are.”
He added that this explains Bankia’s “physical presence in foreign countries as the natural evolution of our foreign trade business, a strategic segment for the entity.”
Bankia also stated that the opening of the new office comes in response to the growing presence of Spanish businesses in Morocco. Bankia aims to increase the investment plans of Spanish enterprises outside of their national boundaries.
Bankia is the fourth largest financial entity in Spain with over 8 million customers, according to the Madrid Stock Exchange.
During the first quarter of 2019, Spain was Morocco’s highest trade market with imported and exported products totaling almost €4 billion, according to the European Union statistics office.
Morocco’s exports to Spain increased to €1.8 billion, while Morocco’s imports from Spain decreased to €2.09 billion.
Miramon concluded that he would like Bankia to extend the presence of Spanish businesses internationally and achieve higher trade volume. In doing so, “Morocco is a key market.”
