Morocco unveils Export Plus programme to boost foreign trade

2009-05-11

As Morocco's strong economic ties to a weakened Europe begin to weigh down the national economy, the government unveils a new plan to boost overseas trade.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 11/05/09

[Hassan Benmehdi] Foreign Trade Minister Abdellatif Maazouz says Morocco aims to triple exports over the coming decade.

European markets continue to face the global financial crisis and the Moroccan export sector - heavily dependent on customers in Europe - is feeling the fallout.

To maximise exports into the region, encourage greater co-operation with foreign partners and counter the anticipated downturn in 2009, Morocco last week launched new strategic plan.

The foreign trade ministry released details of the National Plan for the Development and Promotion of Exports at a press conference on Wednesday (May 6th) at the National Library in Rabat.

The goal of the new programme, dubbed "Maroc Export Plus", is to triple the volume of Moroccan exports over the next decade and recruit more than 2,000 companies into the process, said Foreign Trade Minister Abdellatif Maazouz.

The trade stimulus initiative - drawn up in partnership with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton - will support other development programmes such as Plan Maroc Vert, Plan Azur, Emergence, Vision 2015 for the Development of Crafts and the Moroccan Energy Strategy to target large importers, neighbouring markets and specialty markets.

Speaking to Parliament last week, Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar said that the growth forecast for the global economy fell from 3% to -1.3% in April, while the volume of world trade plummeted from 3.5% to -8%.

"This contraction has had repercussions in certain areas of the national economy," he said, "in particular with regard to tourism (where revenues fell by 21%), remittances from overseas Moroccans (down by 14.3%), [and] exports (down by 30%)... while imports fell by 16.8%."

Meanwhile, the balance of trade fell by 31% in March. Jobs were lost in textiles, electronics, mechanics and the automobile industry.

Both business figures and Moroccan MPs believe that government measures to deal with the global crisis have been too modest.

Abdelhak Lahlou, who manages a Moroccan-Spanish electronics firm based in Casablanca that serves European customers, said the situation is difficult due to the country's exposure to the global economy.

"The whole problem has come from abroad, which is where most of our orders come from," he told Magharebia.

Moroccan opposition parties, meanwhile, cite redundancies within many companies and the decline in remittances from overseas residents as contributory causes to the financial problem.

Mohammed Benayyad, Secretary-General of the National Foreign Trade Council, however, argues that the crisis is structural and not merely linked to the current economic climate. For this reason, he believes that both short-term and systemic changes should be made.