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Rabat – The UK and Morocco continue to express commitment to intensify efforts aimed at boosting bilateral ties as well as making abundant and untapped business opportunities more visible for both British and Moroccan businesses and investors.
On many occasions in recent years, the two countries have used bilateral visits to reaffirm their determination to further strengthen diplomatic relations and cooperation at different levels, including trade and security.
Rob Butler, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Morocco, renewed his country’s eagerness to further boost cooperation with Rabat while visiting the North African country earlier this month.
Butler fondly recalled his visit to Morocco in a recent interview with Morocco World News (MWN), stressing that his trip to Rabat was “another example of the UK’s high ambition to strengthen ties and explore collaborative opportunities in numerous sectors, including infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, clean growth, and education.”
Widely considered and hailed as a gateway to both Africa and Europe, Morocco stands as a beacon of investment opportunities for many international companies and countries.
The country’s political stability as well as its milestone achievements – being the host of prestigious events such as the 2030 World Cup and the 2025 AFCON – has further strengthened its status as an attractive destination for investors.
On his visit to Morocco, Butler told MWN he had several exchanges with Moroccan officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita and Morocco’s Delegate Minister for Investment Mohcine Jazouli.
Seizing business opportunities
During the discussion, the UK officials and their Moroccan counterparts agreed on the paramount importance of raising awareness of the opportunities for bilateral trade and investment opportunities for both UK and Moroccan businesses.
“UK businesses don’t know enough about the opportunities in Morocco and Moroccan businesses could also benefit from knowing more about the value UK businesses and investors bring,” Butler told MWN.
On trade, the official emphasized the importance of the UK-Morocco Association Agreement, a bilateral deal designed to safeguard and promote cooperation between the two countries.
Morocco and the UK signed the agreement in 2019, with a view to maintaining their relations unscathed in the aftermath of Brexit.
Butler expressed satisfaction with the trade cooperation between London and Rabat, describing the relationship as important and “growing.” It is “great to witness the growth” of UK-Morocco trade relations over the three years since the entry into force of the association deal, he said, stressing his own delight at his first visit to Rabat as an envoy of the UK Prime Minister.
For Butler, the post-Brexit UK-Morocco agreement is a critical foundation to significantly improve bilateral relations, noting that cooperation between the two kingdoms has significantly evolved to reach the “current £3.4 billion trade relationship.”
He added that cooperation between the two countries should not be limited to trade, but extend to other sectors, including renewable energy, a key sector for both Britain and Morocco.
“When the sun shines in Morocco, it’s not necessarily shining in the UK, and this is important for agricultural production and trade, but also potentially in areas like power generation,” Butler noted.
While commercial relations between the two countries have reached a satisfactory level, he said there was still room for further growth as both the UK and Morocco were “absolutely determined to make real progress and secure far more bilateral trade and economic cooperation in the future.”
English learning boom in Morocco
Beyond trade and cooperation, Butler also discussed the impressive English learning boom in Morocco, as a growing number of Moroccans, mostly the youth but also increasingly business people and politicians, are eager to learn the language.
English is “gaining interest from politicians, businesses, and families,” Butler told MWN, noting his country’s determination to support Morocco’s efforts to make its youth English-proficient and more competitive in today’s relentlessly globalized economy.
“English is not only in a great position as a foreign language, but it is more and more a medium of instruction,” he said, applauding Morocco’s Education Ministry’s decision to expand English teaching across Moroccan middle schools.
Butler called Morocco’s plan to expand English-language learning “positive” news, adding that the initiative “offers a broader opportunity for young Moroccans to add English to their multilingual skill set.”
He cited the British Council’s contribution to the implementation of this policy, noting that the UK aids in training English language pre-service teachers and inspectors as well as assisting Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education in exploring strategies to boost English as a “medium of instruction within Moroccan universities.”
Butler also mentioned the significance of British scholarship programs such as the Chevening Scholarship in fostering the UK-Morocco relationship.
“Here in Morocco, we saw a record 89% increase in applications in 2021/22 with more than 430 applications,” Butler said, noting that the following academic year witnessed a record of 700 Moroccans applying to the Chevening scholarships.
The UK official is convinced of the potential of Moroccan-British trade relations, stressing that this long-standing cooperation will continue to grow because both sides have shown “real energy” in seizing opportunities.
“During my visit to Morocco I saw ambitious, dynamic Moroccan businesses working hand in hand with UK partners,” he concluded.
