‘Morocco can be India’s gateway to Europe, W. Africa’

‘Morocco can be India’s gateway to Europe, W. Africa’

By Biswajit Choudhury

Morocco could serve as a gateway for India’s exports to Europe, West Africa and the US due to a plethora of trade treaties with several countries and entities, a high-ranking official of the North African nation’s industry chamber has said. “Morocco is included in the European Union’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer,” Nabila Freidji, Vice President of Morocco’s industry chamber, the Confederation Generale des Enterprises du Maroc (CGEM) told IANS during a visit here.

Freidji, a leading example of the first generation of women entrepreneurs in her country,pointed out that Morocco has free trade agreements (FTA) with 55 countries to give it a market of 1 billion people. It is the only African country to have an FTA with the US, and has been given the status of a major non-NATO ally by the US government. The CGEM Vice President emphasised Morocco’s possibility of being a springboard for Indian exports and investment into Europe, West Africa as well as to the US.

CGEM, in 2015, signed an MoU with Indian industry chamber FICCI for strengthening commercial relations by expanding and deepening economic, trade and investment cooperation. Morocco is now the largest foreign investor in India’s fertiliser sector, Freidji pointed out. India sources a large chunk of its rock phosphates and phosphoric acid requirements for its fertiliser industry from Morocco, the world’s biggest phosphate exporter. Although bilateral trade volumes hover around the $1.5 billion mark, the two countries decided to elevate bilateral ties to a strategic partnership in 2015, when King Mohammed VI attended the third India-Africa Forum Summit here. (IANS)

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