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Focus : Morocco at the Crossroads: Economic Development
Emergence plan, Azur plan and the new governmental
guidelines are all aiming to increase Morocco's competitiveness,
productivity and attractiveness. In the past few years, Morocco started
a vast program that is changing the country. October 2007 confirmed
this trend with new advancements.
Real estate and tourism
Upon an agreement signed between Morocco's private banking group Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) and French tourism operators, Marrakech will host a $75 million holiday village to promote tourism in the city.
(read more..)
Sama Dubai, the international real estate investment and development
arm of Dubai Holding, recently unveiled the $3 billion Amwaj project
for Morocco at Cityscape Dubai 2007. The 121-hectares project is to be
implemented within the Bouregreg Valley Development in Rabat on the
banks of the Bouregreg River. The project will provide a modern
lifestyle in an authentic North African environment.In real estate and
tourism.
(read more..)
Infrastructure
It is all good news for
travelers and businesses logistics. Morocco is moving forward to
support the leisure/tourism real estate boom and to offer adequate
transportation networks to companies. In fact, on top of all the big
projects underway in Morocco, this month the Ministry of Public Works
and Transportation decided to launch the construction project for a
coastal motorway linking El-Jadida (190km south of Rabat) to Essaouira
(440km south of Rabat) in early 2008. And good news for travelers -
Annual capacity of Moroccan airports will reach 30 million passengers
by 2010, as a second terminal that was recently inaugurated by King
Mohammed VI will add some 6 million passengers to annual traffic for
Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca. The new terminal will
bring the annual capacity of Morocco's first international airport to
11 million.
Financial sector
Morocco
has drastically changed in the late 90's and in 2000 thanks to the
numerous reforms, and is now endorsing the role of a growth engine. For
example, Ynna Holding, a large family-owned conglomerate, launched this
month the first of six initial public offerings (IPOs) of affiliates to
raise money to finance expansion and expose it more to market forces.
read more..
Also, Moroccan plastics manufacturer SNEP plans to list on the
Casablanca stock market after raising up to 1.05 billion dirhams ($120
million) in an initial public offering.
read more..
International
companies constantly reinforce their trust in the Moroccan banking
sector. Recently, Morocco's central bank has granted authorization to
French company Renault to open a branch of the Renault Credit International Bank, which is specialized in financial services for the purchase of automobiles.
read more..
Trade sector
The
UN Resident Coordinator in Morocco, Mourad Wahba, declared that the
United Nations Organization (UNO) will continue to promote investments
in Morocco.
While Trade exchange between Morocco and Spain reached
some $7.04 billion with a global investment volume standing at $680
million in 2006, the U.S. received only 4% of Morocco's exports,
compared to shares of 25% share for Jordan and 21% for China.
Moroccan
entrepreneurs have traditionally lacked confidence when it comes to the
U.S. market, which is considered too big, rigid and too distant. Thus,
the capacity to enter the U.S. market is an important barrier for most
Moroccan companies. However they are committed to increase their
competitiveness and increase their export share for the U.S.
Recently,
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government
corporation, announced to a U.S. audience the $697.5 million compact,
the largest to date, aimed at boosting Morocco's economy across
multiple sectors.
read more..
Morocco
also allocated $4 million to promote handicraft products in 2006,
representing a 600% increase compared to 2005, marking a starting point
to restructure the sector and encourage the exports.
Energy sector
Morocco is taking "clean" actions to solve its heavy energy bill. While
Morocco's Electricity Utility (ONE) achieved a turnover of $1.113
billion for the first seven months of the year, an increase of 13% over
the same period last year, French renewable energy company Theolia
announced the creation of a Casablanca subsidiary, Theolia Emerging
Markets, with plans to develop, build and operate wind and solar energy
plants in India, Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa. CEO Jean-Marie
Santander selected Morocco because of the government's interest in
renewable energy, pointing out that Theolia has a wind-powered seawater
desalination project in Tan Tan and is participating in a tender for
the construction of a 200 megawatt wind farm in Tarfaya. Morocco's
government aims to increase renewable energies' contribution to the
national energy balance to 10% by 2012 and 20% by 2020.
On the other
hand, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Moroccan officials signed
an agreement totaling 137.2 million Euros ($189 million) to finance the
Mohammedia Gas Turbine Power Plant Project in Morocco.
read more..
Opportunities
Argan oil:
One of Morocco's opportunities is the Argan oil production. The Argan
oil's growing popularity on the international market and better
conservation efforts will contribute to the tree's sustainable
cultivation and the creation of a new niche market with high added
value.
read more..
Morocco
is an opportunity as a manufacturing platform. According to an
assessment released this month by the California-based consulting firm
Frost & Sullivan, "strategic initiatives including ensuring the
effective flow of goods and services, and the building of a reliable
supplier base are having a positive impact on electronics manufacturing
services (EMS) providers in the region." "Morocco has become a nexus
for ever-more complex work including the design of silicon chips known
as System-on-Chip (SoC) devices. North Africa may be poised to become
an electronics manufacturing hub.
read more..
MATIC report for Morocco Newsline
