Moroccan-UK Trade Hits 18.3 Billion Dirhams, Expats Send 5 Billion Home

It is after the signing of an agreement establishing an association between the Kingdom of Morocco and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that Nasser Bourita declared to the press that Morocco exports around 8 billion dirhams to this country, which makes it the 7th customer of Morocco and its 11th supplier, within the framework of the free trade agreement with the European Union.

According to MAP, as of the end of March 2019, Moroccan imports from the United Kingdom reached 2.43 MDH and exports were 1.87 MDH, a coverage rate of 77%, while British direct investments in Morocco are estimated at 2.23 billion dirhams in 2018, compared to 2.04 billion in 2017.

According to the same source, these investments are oriented in the sectors of commerce, industry, real estate and represent 1% of FDI worldwide. But what about the transfers of Moroccans residing in the United Kingdom? According to the same source, they amount to 5.1 BMDH, or 9% of the total transfers of Moroccans Residing Abroad, which places the United Kingdom in 3rd place as a source of transfers of Moroccans Residing Abroad.

The agreement signed by Nasser Bourita and the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Commonwealth, Andrew Murrison, will come into force after Brexit.

In addition, the two parties also proceeded to the signing of three legal instruments, namely the Political Declaration between Morocco and the United Kingdom and two agreements in the form of an exchange of letters, relating, on the one hand, to a dispute settlement mechanism and, on the other hand, to a mutual agreement on access to the British market of all products from the Moroccan Sahara region.