Morocco is the ideal country for business opportunities

Ignasi Sayol, president of the Barcelona Logistics Cluster and a director of PIMEC, the employers' organisation that brings together thousands of companies in Catalonia, spoke to Atalayar during the 3rd Regional Logistics Meeting held in Tetouan (Morocco), organized by Logismed in collaboration with Investangier, the Regional Investment Center of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region​.

What conclusions did you draw from this regional logistics meeting, which showed how important this issue is? 

As president of the Logistics Cluster and as a businessman, I was pleasantly surprised by the dynamism, the infrastructures and the environment. At the end of the day, entrepreneurs move where there are business opportunities, and in Morocco there are many opportunities. In Catalonia we have a large number of small and medium-sized companies that are very interested in going abroad, exporting their products and setting up in a country like Morocco.  

Therefore, the experience is very important. We will surely repeat or look for links to be able to make connections with other employers' associations here in Morocco, because we see it as very interesting.

What business opportunities have you been able to detect during these days in the region? 

We have had some meetings, but we still want to go deeper to see exactly how these opportunities can be realised. We still have a visit to the port of Tangier Med pending, to see the infrastructures it has. I sit on the Board of Directors of the Port of Barcelona, so I know the reality of how a port works, so we are very interested in visiting these facilities and assessing where and how we can deepen the joint business opportunities that exist. 

Spain and Morocco are neighbours and we have the same interests. The case of Tangier Med with the Spanish ports is a reality: since they have been working in coordination and collaboration, trade figures have risen a lot. 

As a businessman, I have always sought collaboration in the places where I have been. I have companies abroad, but always with local partners with whom we form partnerships. In my opinion, this is the ideal format for growth, because without collaboration, there is no future. It is the duty of both entrepreneurs and employers' organisations to seek partnerships. Nowadays, more than competition, we have to look for synergies, how we can reach agreements and how, between all of us, we can expand business opportunities so that they become more and more important. 

What should the Mediterranean countries do at this turbulent time in the world, in international trade, due to the problems in the Suez Canal? 

Obviously, we are very concerned about the Suez Canal. We are also still suffering the consequences of the pandemic. Therefore, we are interested in opening other lines as well, such as the Silk Road railway.  

The Cluster has been working on this for years because it will surely also be an option for the distribution of certain products, but not for all of them. Therefore, we believe that the whole Mediterranean region must work together to be able to position ourselves and provide industrial logistics solutions.

Do you, as a businessman, have any idea of investing or doing business in Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima? 

Not yet, because it is very recent, but surely with the visits we are going to make we will be able to detect possible business opportunities. In the end, from the Cluster we consider that it is always a good idea to invest in new markets where we can collaborate with "local partners", with whom we can do things together. For example, we are developing a very new technology, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and surely we can find local partners to do business with. 

In addition to good business, here you can find a good quality of life: education, health, leisure, sport, security, gastronomy... Does all this count? 

Of course: I am a Mediterranean and we Mediterraneans like to work and live well. Don't look for me where it's cold. That's why we are very close to Latin America, for example. Issues such as the climate are also very important, because I am from Barcelona and having the sea next to me makes me feel at home. The Mediterranean climate and the people's way of being are factors that I value a lot. In the end, when it comes to doing business, all of that counts. With very different cultures it is sometimes difficult, but with cultures that have grown from the same roots, everything is easier.