By Sushila Budhathoki

With the main trade partners mostly in Europe, Morocco is spreading its business all over the world as the late king of Morocco, Hassan II once said, “Morocco is like a tree, which has its roots in Africa and its branches in Europe.” As a trader, exporter of manufactured and agricultural products and a tourism destination, Morocco has turned out to be an emerging economy of North Africa. 

Morocco, a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament, shares common interest in the AMU (Arab Maghreb Union), a regional grouping of five North African countries namely Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. According to Maghreb Markets, a magazine by Afro Asian Business Chronicle, the country is opting for greater economic integration into the world economy and contributing to the consolidation of the multilateral trading system. For this, it has adopted a policy of economic and financial openness, aiming at strengthening the liberalization of foreign trade since the early 1990s. France has been the main import and export partner of Moroccan trade (22.5%) followed by other partners Spain (16.9%), India (6.1%), Italy (4.5%) and United States (1.3%).  Morocco has free trade agreements to a market of 55 countries that represent more than one billion consumers and 60% of world GDP.  

Morocco has strong and stable macroeconomic performances. Agriculture, phosphates and tourism are the major resources of the Moroccan economy followed by industry, mining and sales of fish and seafood. The Moroccan agriculture sector which contributes 19% of the GDP also employs more than 4 million rural inhabitants creating approximately 100,000 jobs in the agro- industry sector. The country is the largest recipient of foreign investment in North Africa and is looking for expansion in ties to include more joint ventures from all around the world. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), it received USD 18 billion FDI between 2000 and 2009 mainly in fertilizer and minerals. The industry, solar energy, wind energy, agriculture, fishing industry, retail and information communication and technology are the major sectors open for investment in Morocco. 

Nepal- Morocco Friendship

There has been very little progress in promoting economy, trade, culture and fewer efforts in enhancing people to people relations between Morocco and Nepal despite setting up diplomatic ties in 1975. The recent visit by Larbi Reffouh, Moroccan Ambassador to Nepal (who resides in New Delhi) to present the letter of credential to the President of Nepal on first May is expected to enhance friendship ties with Nepal. Larbi is also the Ambassador to the Bhutan, and according to him, his posting in India is a choice posting. According to Moroccan Consulate office in Nepal, Larbi, during his visit proposed for short-term as well as long-term trainings to the government officials without any financial obligations to the government of Nepal and allocation of scholarship quota for at least 15 graduate level technical educations in the field of Engineering, Medicines etc. Furthermore, he also officially requested the Chairman of Council of Ministers and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nepal to visit the Kingdom of Morocco at their convenient times.  

Similarly, a high level Nepali business delegation is planning to visit Morocco to explore the possibilities of trade and business between these two countries. After the return of Nepali business delegation from Morocco, Moroccan business delegation is planned to be in Nepal for the same purpose. A socio-cultural delegation is also planning to visit the Kingdom of Morocco to boost cultural relations and people to people relations between Nepal and the Kingdom of Morocco. The ambassador also expressed Morocco’s interest to supply fertilizers to Nepal. The Kingdom is the second largest producer and the largest exporter of fertilizers in the world.

Both Nepal and Morocco are member of UN and partners of non-aligned campaign. Santosh Kumar Tiberawala was appointed as consul of the Kingdom of Morocco to Nepal on November 27, 2000.  Basant K. Chaudhary, Managing Director of Chaudhary Group was appointed as consul on Norvember 26, 2007 and was promoted to Consul General in May, 2013. The Nepali Embassy in Cairo oversees the diplomatic relations of Nepal with Morocco. 

Nepal’s trade with Morocco has been limited as investors from both of the countries have less interaction in high level. The data from Nepal Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) shows decrease in the trade between the two countries. According to the data provided by TEPC, only 161 pieces of works of art, collector’s pieces and antiques worth Rs 257,690 were exported to Morocco between January 2012 and January 2013. The earlier export included products like dying extracts, dyes, pigments and other coloring matter, paints and varnishes, inks and carpets and other textile floor coverings among few others. Similarly, Nepal mainly imported fertilizers and rubber from Morocco before 2012. There is no import from Morocco between January 2012 and January 2013. 

Moroccans are not among the regular tourist groups who come to Nepal for celebrating their vacation. According to Department of Immigration, Nepal,  hardly 171 tourists were from Morocco who visited Nepal in 2012. On the other hand, Morocco, with 70 new tourist destinations, is becoming a growing tourism destination in the world. According to Maghreb Markets, around 9.3 million tourists visited Morocco in 2010. 

‘There is an untapped potential to strengthen our economic and trade ties’

How do you see the significance of your visit to Nepal?

The purpose of this visit is to present my credentials to His Excellency Dr Ram Baran Yadav, the President of the Republic of Nepal, as Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Morocco to Nepal, with a residence in New Delhi. 

This visit also was a good opportunity to hold several meetings with the Prime Minister, some members of the Government and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to discuss a gamut of bilateral and international issues of mutual interest. All the contacts and interactions I have had during my visit are very positive and promising about the future of relations between Morocco and Nepal. 

What are the possibilities for economic and trade cooperation between Nepal and Morocco?

The diplomatic relations between Morocco and Nepal were established in 1975. Both countries have always enjoyed cordial, friendly and excellent political relations. This could be reflected by our work together and our coordinated efforts and positions on several international issues, either within or outside the United Nations. 

Our bilateral trade record remains below our common ambitions and expectations. There is for sure an untapped potential to strengthen our economic and trade ties. In this regard, both governments are currently considering the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, which will be a cornerstone for the creation of a global legal framework to conceive and promote different “win-win” partnerships and projects in order to take our relationship to the next level, especially in the economic field. 

Can you please tell us the major sectors for cooperation between the two countries?

I believe we should target and focus on some key economic sectors. For instance, we have developed in Morocco a modern, competitive and export-oriented agriculture. Since we do really have an internationally recognized expertise and know how in this field, we are ready to share this experience with our Nepali friends, particularly in terms of modern irrigation techniques and human resource development. 

With regards to tourism, we have realized significant achievements over the last few years as Morocco has succeeded in positioning itself one of the world’s fast-growing tourism destinations, attracting over 12 million tourists a year. This achievement can be simply attributed to an ambitious strategy, dubbed “Vision 2020”, through developing state-of-the-art tourism-related infrastructure, including building new hotels and resorts, as well as investing in training human capital. Thus, we can look at the existing potential for initiating specific cooperation in this sector.

Another sector that could be central for our future cooperation is higher education. Just to give you an idea, Morocco provide annually more than 1600 scholarships in favor of foreign students. Today, we have over 7000 students from over 48 countries to study in our universities and higher institutes. So, we will seriously consider the possibility of providing scholarships for Nepalese students to pursue their studies in Moroccan universities. I personally believe that if we succeed on this particular front, it will inevitably contribute to further promotion of people-to-people contacts.

What should Nepali government do to attract investment from Morocco?

I would like to emphasize that Moroccan investors are present overseas, primarily in Africa in areas such as banking, telecoms, housing and infrastructure. I can assure you that this economic presence is expanding and deepening thanks to the various opportunities existing in African countries and indeed to the capital and expertise offered by Moroccan companies. Since investors are guided by profit and better business environment, the Moroccan private sector is open and ready to explore other horizons and seek new opportunities, even here in Nepal. But this is the main responsibility of your government and business community, by engaging in some promotional and marketing activities, in order to attract Moroccan investments to Nepal, probably by looking at the possibility of establishing “joint-ventures” in specific sectors, like agriculture and tourism.

Agriculture is one of the important contributors in Moroccan economy. How can Nepal get benefit from Morocco?

Morocco is ready to share its expertise with Nepal in the field of agriculture and irrigation. Morocco initiated in 2008 a revolutionary program by investing, with the involvement of the private sector, in the modernization and development of our agriculture, and in promoting its international competitiveness. The adoption of this policy stems from the fact that agriculture is the major employer of our workforce, especially in rural areas, and it is one of main contributors to our GDP. We are now starting to reap the fruits of this ambitious strategy, either in terms of increasing output and improving global competitiveness. Having said that, we are ready to share the expertise we have developed so far in this sector with Nepal. We can offer training programs in favor of Nepali students in specific areas, such as irrigation techniques, agribusiness and veterinary. 

Can you please describe us the prospect of export-import business between two countries?

We do export so many things, from agricultural products to industrial items and very recently we have started exporting cars to the regional markets. In fact, we are one of the leading exporters of phosphate in the world. And nobody can ignore the importance of this commodity as an essential component for agricultural development and food security. As an example, we are a major exporter of phosphate and fertilizers to your immediate neighbour. I think it’s time to see if we can do the same with Nepal, to participate concretely with your country in its efforts for the development of your agricultural sector and achieving your food security.