Don’t miss out on Morocco!

A willingness to advance ideas and be a pioneer is a hallmark of Morocco. It is the top country in Africa for both passenger car manufacturing and aeronautics. With the launch of the nation’s new brand Morocco Now the aim is to raise awareness of the incredible transformation that the country has undergone in the past 20 years under the visionary leadership of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, and to highlight the dynamism of its industry. It has seen its leaders build a competitive low-carbon production and sourcing platform that offers free access to 1.3 billion consumers in Europe, the US, Africa and the Middle East thanks to free trade agreements with more than 50 countries.

Having a steady and consistent approach towards creating a modern, sustainable industry and open trade means Morocco is now well positioned to help cushion global shocks and provide solutions to some of the challenges that are pushing the world to reshape value chains.

Heavy investments have been made to create top-class infrastructure, and one illustration of this is Tanger Med. Where an empty, isolated beach stood just two decades ago, there is now the largest port in the Mediterranean, according to Lloyd’s List. The same list also ranks it 25^th worldwide, up ten places from the previous year, and it is no. 1 in Africa.

Creating the conditions for a future-proof industry is key. The climate emergency requires a prompt switch to low-carbon production and transportation in order for companies to reduce their environmental footprints. Morocco offers a highly efficient and cost-effective manufacturing base that is close to many consumer markets - just 14km from Europe. The nation’s pioneering renewable energy mandate means it has decarbonised production – with some factories down to zero emissions, such as the Renault plant in Tangier. A £4.5 billion investment in renewable energies provided an installed capacity of 4GW last year.

Harnessing the power of nature is one of the ways Morocco is creating a future-proof industrial platform. The country has a proven track record in delivering mega infrastructures and competitive industrial clusters in the past ten years, and its leaders attribute this to having a young, dynamic, competitive and qualified workforce. Being ready to embrace challenges and demonstrate agility in the face of change are the other significant contributing factors to Morocco’s success. So what does doing business there represent? An immense opportunity – as Dr Andrew Murrison, the UK’s prime ministerial trade envoy, says: ‘I have a message for UK investors: You had better get on this particular bandwagon folks, because it is going places. Morocco has truly great future in the years and decades ahead and I don’t want the UK to be missing out.’