Organized on the sidelines of the 8th session of the Joint Committee responsible for monitoring the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the meeting was hosted by the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, the Kingdom’s Ambassador to Washington, Youssef Amrani, and the President of the Corporate Council For Africa, Forizel Leiser, in the presence of representatives of American departments, the business world, research and the media.
Mezzour stressed that thanks to the Vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Morocco has acquired proven experience in several areas and now enjoys international credibility.
Over the past 25 years, the Kingdom has undertaken major reforms to improve the business climate and promote high value-added industries, as well as to establish infrastructure that meets international standards, he said.
In this regard, he noted that the Dakhla Atlantic port is called upon to consolidate Morocco’s infrastructure and its positioning as a hub for investments in Africa as well as it will constitute a maritime outlet for the Sahel countries towards the Atlantic Ocean.
The minister also reviewed the efforts made by Morocco to strengthen the competitiveness of production sectors with a view to contributing to stimulating foreign direct investment.
Regarding the free trade agreement, the only one linking the United States to an African country, Mezzour stressed the importance of breathing new life into this agreement concluded 20 years ago, noting that Morocco is keen to diversify its partners and strengthen economic activity and competitiveness. In this regard, he indicated that Morocco aspires to double the size of its economy and will spare no effort to achieve this.
In his speech, the Moroccan ambassador to the United States recalled that the long-standing friendship and common strategic interests have made Rabat and Washington “essential partners on many issues and a multitude of challenges ranging from security threats, climate change, energy to the promotion of shared values of peace, stability and economic liberalism.”
“As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the free trade agreement, it is important to recognize its central role in expanding business opportunities” and creating thousands of jobs in Morocco and the United States, he said, adding that this framework of cooperation today constitutes the cornerstone of Moroccan-American economic relations.
In this sense, he recalled the main facets that contribute to the dynamism of the Moroccan economy, namely “a clear vision of His Majesty the King, a solid legal and regulatory framework, institutional, political and macroeconomic stability, as well as world-class infrastructure”.
Youssef Amrani also noted that as part of Morocco’s sustained efforts for a prosperous Africa, a new cooperation mechanism has recently emerged through the bold Initiative launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to improve African countries’ access to the Atlantic Ocean.
The United States and Africa now have many mechanisms at their disposal, such as the US-Morocco FTA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Atlantic Initiative, he noted, noting that these mechanisms constitute “powerful and complementary instruments” for economic growth, investment stimulation, resilience and job creation in both Africa and the United States.
All these achievements are the result of a myriad of major political and economic reforms undertaken under the leadership of His Majesty the King, Amrani stressed, affirming that these advances have made Morocco not only a regional economic power, but also an African financial and industrial hub with a modern and diversified economy.
For her part, the president of the Corporate Council for Africa noted that the reforms undertaken by Morocco in key sectors have helped attract foreign investment, making the Kingdom a model in the region and in Africa.
She also mentioned the importance of boosting the Moroccan-American partnership through the diversification of trade, stressing that the Kingdom, the only African country linked to the United States by a free trade agreement, is establishing itself as a leading investor in Africa.
