| Mustapha Mechahouri,
Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Trade, has high
expectations for the pending U.S.-Morocco Free Trade
Agreement. At the same time, he is acutely aware of
the challenges facing the Kingdom as it prepares to
meet the conditions required for FTA status.
Mechahouri is particularly interested in getting the
word out to corporate America that Morocco remains
an untapped goldmine of potential. With the advent
of the FTA, a wide range of U.S. corporations will
find themselves facing almost unlimited partnership
options in Morocco. The most potentially lucrative
markets include telecommunications, finance, tourism,
environmental cleanup, engineering, energy, distribution,
automotive spare parts, pharmaceuticals, electronics,
textiles, and eco-tourism.
It is hard to overstate the value of a U.S.-Morocco
Free Trade Agreement to Morocco. The ongoing FTA negotiations
are a key plank in the enormous development platform
enacted by His Majesty (HM) King Mohammed VI shortly
after his ascension to the throne on July 23, 1999.
Job creation is at the top of the short list of imperative
near term tasks in order to combat the poverty and
hopelessness that is too often found in Morocco today.
These conditions of despair are the breeding ground
of hatred and backwardness preached by the so-called
Islamic fundamentalist that resulted in the Casablanca
human kamikaze attacks of May 16, 2003, planted their.
May 16 actually accelerated the pace of FTA negotiations
that began early this year. Mechahouri listed the
visit by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Maria Cino
and a delegation of representatives from 10 American
businesses to Morocco, less than two weeks after the
attacks, and the commencement of the Third Round of
FTA negotiations in Rabat a week later, complete with
more than 60 American officials and support personnel,
as solid evidence of the ironclad commitment by both
sides to complete the FTA negotiations by the end
of 2003. As both nations have “shared an attack
on our homelands,” in addition to so many other
things, Mechahouri views the completion of this FTA
as a natural continuation of that special relationship.
Morocco has long had a close relationship with the
European Union, and the colonial legacy of France
and Spain has continued in certain vestiges to this
day. While only 4% of Morocco’s foreign trade
is with the U.S., the EU claims 64% of this total.
Due to this traditionally close relationship, some
within the EU (particularly France) have looked rather
darkly upon Morocco’s entry into FTA negotiations
with the United States. What these people naysayers
do not seem to realize, according to Mechahouri, is
that a trade agreement with the US will “actually
strengthen” Morocco’s relationship with
the EU and vice versa. He is genuinely excited about
the possibilities of creating a “tripartite partnership
among the EU, the U.S., and Morocco,” with Morocco
acting as “the ideal bridge between the United
States and Europe.”
When the U.S.-Morocco FTA takes effect, U.S. goods
will enter Morocco tariff-free. They could then be
re-exported to the EU, either directly or in value-added
form. This could become a two-way street when corporations
in Europe reverse the process to export to the US
through Morocco. The real beneficiaries of this arrangement
will be the Moroccan people themselves, with more
employment opportunities and higher wages.
Additionally, Mechahouri stressed that, under the
terms of the World Trade Organization (WTO), all member
nations are encouraged to sign as many trade agreements
as possible for the development of healthy international
commerce. “From Morocco’s point of view,
ensuring the establishment of an FTA is an opportunity
to develop new fields of bilateral cooperation within
commercial partnerships,” according to Mechahouri.
Mechahouri is cognizant of the need for Moroccan businesses
to find ways of educating their American counterparts
about Morocco and its opportunities. Because Americans
really don’t know Morocco and Moroccans are in
the same situation regarding the United States, Moroccan
businesses must invest in promotional campaigns in
the U.S. to highlight Moroccan products.
Commercial missions to Morocco such as Assistant Secretary
Cino’s must continue, and Moroccans must bring
their story to the United States as well. While the
total volume of Moroccan exports to the United States
are limited, Mechahouri identified agricultural products,
including processed foods, and clothing, as key products
the Kingdom would like to export directly to the U.S.
Every day, Morocco is becoming a better environment
in which to invest, according to Mechahouri. The government
is revising its legal code to bring it up to current
transparent international standards. It is also upgrading
the transportation infrastructure, making major improvements
to road, rail, air and sea arteries and systems. Each
administrative region now has a Center for Regional
Investment, created specifically to tailor investment
programs to the needs of every part of the country.
The Kingdom’s 14 centuries of political stability
are one of the most important indicators of Morocco’s
appeal as a smart investment location, according to
Mechahouri.
The launch earlier this year of the Tangier Port Project
by His Majesty will create a state of the art container
ship complex capable of handling the largest cargo
vessels, located only 15 kilometers from the European
continent. It will cost an estimated $1 billion, with
a projected completion date of 2007. Mechahouri anticipates
the creation of a facility that will rival Rotterdam
and Antwerp. With such an increase in maritime transport
capability, he foresees the arrival of larger foreign
corporations in Morocco.
Said Mechahouri, “There are currently 120 American
companies in Morocco, in diversified sectors, and
the FTA will reinforce (and add to) this relationship.”
Morocco’s far-reaching development plan is dependent
upon increased foreign trade and investment, and the
finalization of a U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement
will improve the odds of the plan’s success exponentially.
The Agreement will provide Moroccans with much better
lives and Americans with incredible investment opportunities
at what is really the “crossroads of the world.” |
