Go Morocco Forums

Khalil

The Morocco-US free trade agreement (FTA) is on the right track, said visiting U.S. assistant representative for trade in Europe and the Middle East, Christopher Wilson, who didn't specify to whose benefit.



In fact the Moroccan-American free trade agreement, which was signed in 2004 and began operating in 2006, is on the right track, but unfortunately only for US companies, as few Moroccan companies are able to penetrate the American market.

Since the signing of the agreement, Morocco's imports from the US have almost tripled while exports to the North American country have grown only slightly: USD 443 million in 2005, USD 521 million in 2006 and USD 663 million in 2007, registering an annual growth of 22%.

This visit of the American official, which took place last week, further shows the importance of this agreement for the American administration.

He thus met with a number of Moroccan high-ranking officials, including the minister of foreign trade and the minister of finance, and visited the Moroccan association of exporters.

The objective is to prepare for the meeting of the mixed commission which will be held on May 19, 2009, in Washington. This meeting, alternating between Rabat and Washington, aims at the evaluation of the situation and decide futures measures for improvement.

“The agreement presents important opportunities, but more adaptation and prospection efforts are needed, underlined Wilson, in an interview with Morocco's daily, L'Economiste.

The American official also discussed a number of outstanding technical issues pertaining to agriculture, transports and customs.

For his part, Foreign Trade Minister Abdellatif Maazouz pointed out that this agreement has significantly increased Morocco's exports to the United States, calling on Moroccan businessmen to seize the opportunities it offers.

These businessmen are, however, blamed for being unable to meet the requirements of the American market, both in terms of quality and quantity.

A recent study on Morocco's ailing foreign trade, conducted on behalf of the Confederation of Moroccan Companies (CGEM), found that the main reasons behind this situation are weak productiveness, higher production cost factors and the small size of Morocco's SMEs.

It also added the lack of visibility concerning the American market, which pushes exporters to turn towards markets they most know, such as the European Union.


By CMC

http://www.moroccobusinessnews.com/C...?idr=18&id=862