Andalusia strengthens ties with Morocco
The CEMAES (Morocco-Spain Economic Council), the CRI (Regional Investment Centre) of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region in collaboration with the CGEM (General Confederation of Enterprises in Morocco), with the Andalusian Confederation of Employers (CEA) and Andalusia Trade concluded the second stop of the business meetings "Doing Business in Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima" on Thursday, July 6, 2023.
In an effort to improve ties with Morocco, Juanma Moreno, president of the Junta de Andalucía, plans to visit the Alawi nation soon. The president of the Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Regional Council, Omar Moro, and the Moroccan ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, took part this week in the signing of a collaboration agreement at the San Telmo Palace in Seville.
"An important range of opportunities is opening up for us to make progress on issues of common interest", Juanma Moreno.
The next step is for the President of the Junta to visit the neighbouring nation to continue strengthening ties between Andalusia and Morocco. Moreno has defended these ties as the "backbone" of his government's international initiatives. He recalled that in June 2019 he travelled to Morocco for the first time in his capacity as president of the Junta. He stressed that Andalusia "is a bridge" linking Europe and North Africa and that the agreement signed is "clearly positive" for both regions due to the commitment to continue deepening economic, social and cultural ties.
According to Omar Moro, President of the Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Regional Council, the signing of this agreement, the fruit of a year's work, highlights the strength of the positive economic relations between Morocco and Spain. He argued in favour of doing more to strengthen bilateral ties between the two regions.
Andalusia-Morocco business meeting
The meeting served to present to Andalusian and Moroccan diaspora investors the region's business potential, its regional offer and the range of incentives and support measures to more than 100 representatives of the different actors of the regional and national investment ecosystem, as well as 200 Spanish and Moroccan businessmen, managers and economic agents from all fields. The CRI was pleased to present the Spanish version of "manaralmoustatmir", its online one-stop-shop for investors, which allows users to simulate the calculation of the investment premium specified in the main scheme of the investment charter along with its resource for business parks and industrial estates in the area.
The Director General of the CRI, Jalal Benhayoun, said in his speech at the event that: "The economic growth of our region has a positive impact on the economy of Andalusia, while the latter's growth also feeds the growth of our region, which has benefited over the past two decades from a dynamic sustained by bold reforms and major infrastructure projects, based on solid foundations and legitimate ambitions for the rise of this has enabled it to play a leading role in attracting foreign direct investment in sectors with high added value and stimulating the establishment of multinational companies in its economic sphere His Majesty King Mohammed VI."
He continued, "the IRC's presence in Seville, with its regional and national ecosystem covering most of the investment route, aims to consolidate its approach of proximity and openness to the Andalusian economic fabric and to better respond to the expectations of investors interested in what The Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region has to offer by making available to them the assets of our territories and the various support mechanisms offered by the Government, in particular". The criteria relate to the areas of activity, the regions selected, the number of stable jobs created by the amount of investment, the percentage of women in these jobs, local integration, sustainable development and future professions.
In addition, important Spanish companies that have set up in the area, such as Gil Gomes (operating in the fish processing and packaging sector), ENDESA (in the energy sector) and INDO (optical and ophthalmic equipment), shared their success stories and their perceptions of the region's business climate. Following the event, a trip to the port of Seville was planned for the official Moroccan delegation with the aim of creating a maritime connection between the ports of Tangier Med and Seville to take advantage of the innovation and rapid growth of the port of Tangier Med. The Regional Council of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima and the Junta de Andalucia signed a protocol of collaboration agreement on the fringes of this meeting.
We are happy to have provided our various participants, as well as our Moroccan and Spanish partners, with a unique experience, and we trust that this second stage has been a bridge linking the two shores to create new professions for the future in an ecological ecosystem that is reliable for investment. With the assistance of its various partners, the CIR Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima is dedicated to continue its efforts to strengthen the economy and promote various investment opportunities at national and international level in the framework of these pioneering meetings "Doing Business in Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima".