Investments from the Gulf in Morocco will increase this year
Economic relations between Morocco and the Gulf countries will experience a turning point this year. Early implementation of the plan for strategic cooperation between the two parties has been announced.Nearly 7 billion dirhams in investments by the Gulf have already been made in 2011.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Investments-fro...
The balance of fiscal 2012 is expected to be positive as well, the Moroccan daily Le Matin reports. Noting that the bulk of investment from the Gulf has traditionally been in real estate and construction its says that the visit of King Mohammed VI to the Gulf underlined the new impetus in the relationship between Morocco and Jordan and the GCC with its invitation to both countries to join the GCC. Morocco has remainded stable despite the turmoil affecting other countries in the Maghreb during the Arab Spring. The GCC has committed US$ 5 billion to Morocco over five years to support major projects in tourism and infrastructure.
As European FDI has declined due to the eurozone financial recession the GCC has become the major source of FDI for Morocco second only to France. This is an historic change in investment flows and GGC sovereign funds are now playing an important role in Morocco's future economic development and aninvaluable support to its foreign currency reserves.
Le Matin points out that the cooperation plan agreed in Bahrain provides for the strengthening of cooperation in the widest sense: political, economic, tourism, food security, transport, information technology, renewable energy,electricity and the environment, a far more comprehensive relationship asa GGC cooperation partner than was previously the case. It is a strategic development that comes at the right time for Morocco in the context of the changing global economc situation where recession in Europe and the USA is likely to continue for some
years.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Gulf countries increased 51% in 2011 to 7 billion dirhams, against less than 250 million dirhams in 2001. The rise of FDI from these countries has been mainlydue to the United Arab Emirates, which has increased its investments in Morocco to 4.5 billion dirhams in 2011, an increase of 71% compared to 2010, followed by the Saudi Arabia with $ 1.6 billion DH, three times a year, Le Matin notes. The UAE is a major investor and Morocco is the largest receipient of aid from the Kingdom of Saud Arabia in the Maghreb. Kuwait's investments in Morocco rose tp US $3 billion in 2011 following the acquisition of a stake by Zain of the Moroccan telephone operator Wana for $ 2.2 billion dirhams.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, for its part, increased its overall contribution to development projects in Morocco in 2010 to $ 1.2 billion. This fund has contributed to the realisation of high-speed rail link between Tangier and Casablanca and the development of an electrical network in the south of the kingdom, Le Matin concludes.
Qatar has also signed a number of agreements with Morocco including the major US$ 2.5 billion investment in tourism together with the UAE and Kuwait. Qatar has signed a joint investment agreement with Morocco which will no doubt be the source of major investments in the Kingdom
As European FDI has declined due to the eurozone financial recession the GCC has become the major source of FDI for Morocco second only to France. This is an historic change in investment flows and GGC sovereign funds are now playing an important role in Morocco's future economic development and aninvaluable support to its foreign currency reserves.
Le Matin points out that the cooperation plan agreed in Bahrain provides for the strengthening of cooperation in the widest sense: political, economic, tourism, food security, transport, information technology, renewable energy,electricity and the environment, a far more comprehensive relationship asa GGC cooperation partner than was previously the case. It is a strategic development that comes at the right time for Morocco in the context of the changing global economc situation where recession in Europe and the USA is likely to continue for some
years.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Gulf countries increased 51% in 2011 to 7 billion dirhams, against less than 250 million dirhams in 2001. The rise of FDI from these countries has been mainlydue to the United Arab Emirates, which has increased its investments in Morocco to 4.5 billion dirhams in 2011, an increase of 71% compared to 2010, followed by the Saudi Arabia with $ 1.6 billion DH, three times a year, Le Matin notes. The UAE is a major investor and Morocco is the largest receipient of aid from the Kingdom of Saud Arabia in the Maghreb. Kuwait's investments in Morocco rose tp US $3 billion in 2011 following the acquisition of a stake by Zain of the Moroccan telephone operator Wana for $ 2.2 billion dirhams.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, for its part, increased its overall contribution to development projects in Morocco in 2010 to $ 1.2 billion. This fund has contributed to the realisation of high-speed rail link between Tangier and Casablanca and the development of an electrical network in the south of the kingdom, Le Matin concludes.
Qatar has also signed a number of agreements with Morocco including the major US$ 2.5 billion investment in tourism together with the UAE and Kuwait. Qatar has signed a joint investment agreement with Morocco which will no doubt be the source of major investments in the Kingdom
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Investments-fro...