Morocco’s Government Council has passed a bill approving a framework agreement on economic cooperation with the Czech Republic.
The trade ministers of Morocco and the Czech Republic had signed the framework agreement in December at the Czech-Moroccan Business Forum in Casablanca. The government’s decision to approve the bill follows years of bilateral efforts to advance economic cooperation between the two countries.
According to the Czech Trade Promotion Agency (CzechTrade), exports from the Czech Republic to Morocco increased by 108 percent between 2010 and 2014, creating momentum for further economic cooperation and culminating in a series of high-level meetings.
In December, Moroccan Head of Government, Saad-eddine El Othmani, received Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Rabat on a two-day business visit with several ministers and 37 business leaders. At the Casablanca forum, the head of CzechTrade in Morocco, Tamer El-Sibai, said the energy, agricultural, and building sectors are especially promising adding that Morocco will invest $30 billion in the energy sector alone.
The automobile sector is another area of potential for Czech export to Morocco, Babis pointed out.
“Morocco is Africa’s largest car manufacturer. We import Renault and Dacia cars from Morocco. The Czech Republic exports 2,400 Skoda cars a year to Morocco. There is an ambition to reach 4000 soon”. Beyond trade, the Czech Republic supports Morocco in preventing the transit of sub-Saharan immigrants to Europe.
Earlier in March, Hungary announced that Morocco would receive a €30 million aid package approved at a summit between Eastern Europe’s Visegrad Group, which includes the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in February.