The Cairo Economic Forum was an opportunity for Morocco to reaffirm its desire for a reinforced partnership with Egypt. Aiming $ 500 million in exports by 2026 and real complementarity, the kingdom seeks to correct the current commercial imbalance.
Moroccan participation in the Egyptian-Moroccan investment and commerce forum, which was held from May 3 to 5 in Cairo, was “a clear message from the kingdom’s will to strengthen its partnership and cooperation with Egypt”.
This is what Omar Hejira, Secretary of State to the minister of Industry and Trade, in charge of foreign trade, on the sidelines of the event, underlined. When the forum is opened, Hejira said that, far from any logic of competition, Morocco aspires to establish a real complementarity between the economic actors of the two countries.
The Minister also revealed that if bilateral trade reached nearly $ 1.1 billion in 2024, a significant figure, Moroccan exports still represent only 6% of Egyptian imports. He thus highlighted the need to “reverse this trend”, justifying the Moroccan ambition displayed during this meeting.
A platform for bilateral complementarity
Co-chaired by the Egyptian Minister of Investment and Trade, Hassan El-Khatib, and his Moroccan counterpart, this forum brought together a delegation of Moroccan businessmen as well as economic actors and managers of the two nations, who came to explore new opportunities under the theme “a broad economic partnership”.
At the heart of the discussions, Mohamed Ali Tazi, president of the Moroccan-Egypt Affairs Council (Moroccan side), pleaded for the construction of an “integrated and sustainable economic alliance” between Rabat and Cairo, highlighting the Moroccan desire to go beyond punctual initiatives.
“It is not a question of concluding rapid affairs or circumstantial initiatives, but of laying the foundations for a lasting economic alliance, capable of creating jobs, facilitating knowledge transfer and improving the competitiveness of our respective industrial systems,” he said.
Exceed the simple commercial exchange
This Moroccan vision is based on a concrete approach based on trust, complementarity and long -term planning. Tazi recalled the considerable assets of the two countries, including the geographic position, modern infrastructure and reformist vision, which allow them to set up in complementary economic poles in strategic sectors for Morocco such as food, pharmaceutical industry, renewable energies, transport, logistics and finance.
The President of the Morocco-Egypt Affairs Council also highlighted the geostrategic dimension of this partnership for the Kingdom, stressing that “Egypt constitutes a strategic platform for the kingdom to open up to the markets of the Middle East and East Africa”.
-He also recalled that “Morocco represents a natural gateway to West Africa and Europe for Egyptian businesses”.
A roadmap to energize exports
The Egyptian-Moroccan forum is part of the working visit made by a Moroccan delegation in Egypt, from May 3 to 5.
This mission, organized by the Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX) and the General Confederation of Businesses of Morocco (CGEM), in coordination with the State Secretariat for Foreign Trade, displays the objective of significantly strengthening the presence of national products and reaching $ 500 million in exports to Egypt by 2026, thus contributing to rebalance the national trade balance.
To materialize this ambition, Tazi proposed a series of mechanisms aimed at institutionalizing cooperation, in particular through a joint support program for SMEs, co -financing facilities, targeted technical assistance, and the creation of a bilateral digital platform.
The objective is to erect the Moroccan-Egypt Affairs Council as a single and effective interlocutor for the private sector. The imperative to fully activate the Agadir agreement was also underlined by the Moroccan part, considering it as an essential lever to boost the Kingdom exports.
The strong Moroccan mobilization has distinguished itself by the presence of companies operating in various sectors and with high export potential (agriculture, food, automotive, electricity, electronics, textiles, seafood, energy and renewable energies, pharmacy, medical equipment, cosmetics and construction).
This economic meeting followed the visit of the Egyptian minister El-Khatib in Morocco last February.
Mehdi Idrissi / eco inspirations
