French Trade Minister to Visit Morocco, Aiming to Boost Economic Ties

On the program of this trip, exchanges with Moroccan authorities and French and local business communities in order to give new impetus to the economic and commercial relationship, reports atlasinfo, citing sources close to French diplomacy.

France remains for Morocco a "leading" economic partner, even if the commercial position in Morocco, historically strong, faces "increased competition", the same sources point out.

To this end, the French Treasury General Directorate has stressed that due to the rise of the Moroccan export industry, France, Morocco’s second largest trading partner, has had a bilateral deficit since 2012, leading in a few years to a rise in imports from France from Morocco "i.e. 70.5% while our exports to the Kingdom have only increased by 18.3%".

As a result, France is now Morocco’s second supplier, holding 12.2% of market share behind Spain (15.6%) and Morocco is France’s 19th trading partner in 2018 and Africa’s leading partner, accounting for about 1% of its total trade.