Morocco, France set to step up colocalisation projects

"With Morocco, things are quite advanced, but I think we can now move on to the next level, that of implementation," said French Minister of Foreign Trade, Nicole Bricq at the end of a meeting with Minister of Industry, Trade and New Technologies, Abdelkader Amara, on the sidelines of the Paris Trade Fair "SMEs planet".

"The challenge is to implement this concept. We have discussed a number of issues on which we will be working in the coming months, especially agribusiness, chemicals, and automotive, " said, for his part, Minister Amara who is also in France as part of the Moroccan participation in the 50th International Paris Air show at Le Bourget exhibition center (SIAE).

The concept of "colocalisation " promoted by the French government in its economic relations with its partners in the Maghreb as an alternative to offshoring which was criticized for causing loss of jobs in France, "was mentioned for the first time in Morocco" on the occasion of the High Level French-Moroccan Meeting last December, and during the visit, in April, of President Francois Hollande in the Kingdom, said Ms. Bricq.

"Colocalisation in fact means complementarity and the possibility to work together in a given field and to see what we can do to increase the productive capacity of both sides, create sustainable jobs on both sides, and guarantee quality and at the same time, "said the French minister.