Commercial relations between the two countries have always been marked by mutual interest, according to the ambassador, who specifies that the objective is to move from an essentially commercial relationship to that of a more global economic partnership thanks to the enormous potential that both parties can exploit as well as the opportunities offered by the current economic situation.
In this sense, Simon MARTIN revealed the sectors of cooperation to be explored, such as education, health, tourism but also new measures to relax commercial regulations in order to break down the barriers between the two countries and facilitate access to the market.
In this perspective, the British agency “UK Export Finance” has put on the table four billion pounds sterling or 51 billion dirhams to finance joint projects in several sectors such as energy, infrastructure, real estate but also projects relating to the organization of the World Cup. This funding will help Moroccan companies access support to carry out their projects under the condition that at least 20% of the total contract value comes from British suppliers.
The Consul General and Morocco Director of the Department of International Trade, Tom Hill, for his part, specified that renewable energies (EnR) and services are sectors in which Morocco excels and are of great importance today in economic cooperation. Morocco, he said, is making progress in several sectors, such as aerospace, security and energy, recalling that the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project aims to provide real added value for trade.
Create synergy
That said, the president of the British Chamber of Commerce for Morocco (BritCham), Stephen Orr, who took part in this event, stressed that the biggest challenge is to bring businesses from Morocco and the United Kingdom to know in depth on all the key sectors of the two countries, highlighting the enormous opportunities for Moroccan-British trade, both in electronics and household appliances, as well as in entrepreneurship in general which is developing remarkably in a multitude of sectors in Morocco.
He also supported the words of the British ambassador, noting that the two countries have great potential in common. In this sense, he insisted on the virtues of logistics which remains, in his eyes, one of the leading sectors, because without logistics systems, it is very difficult to process commercial operations in a fluid manner.
In this sense, the president of BritCham estimated that the strengthening of maritime links between Morocco and the United Kingdom should streamline bilateral trade, avoiding border difficulties in terms of paperwork and everything that accompanies the transit of goods. to allow trade operators to benefit more easily from the association agreement which has brought the two countries together since 2019.
At the same time, Tom Hill expressed the United Kingdom’s desire to support Morocco in these projects relating to preparations for the organization of the 2030 World Cup.
Post-Brexit phase
For her part, Sofia Akhtar, responsible for trade policy and market access at DBT Morocco (Department for Business and Trade Morocco), indicated that since the entry into force of the trade agreement in 2021, a real increase in exports between the United Kingdom and Morocco was noted.
She indicated that agriculture constitutes a real opportunity for the United Kingdom and Morocco to stimulate trade, insisting on the importance of reviewing the prices of agricultural products to have more Moroccan products in British supermarkets and a greatest variety of British products in Moroccan markets.
Stephen Orr, President of Britcham and Vice President of Spirit Aerosystems, also put Moroccan-British cooperation into context, declaring: “Our biggest challenge Post Brexit is getting to know each other.” In this post-Brexit phase, he believes that it is the time to expand and focus on areas with a real competitive advantage. The aeronautics sector, for example, estimated at 18 million dirhams, aims to triple in the next four years thanks to the construction of an ecosystem between Morocco and the United Kingdom.
This synergy can also be in the form of solidarity, noted the speaker, giving the example of the initiative taken by Jaguar Land Rover which assisted the British rescue teams arriving in Morocco following the Al Haouz earthquake.
This article is originally published on lopinion.ma
