The Moroccan export sector is suffering from many dysfunctions and there is yet much to do to remedy the “alarming” situation. This is the conclusion of a conference held on Wednesday in Casablanca by the newly-created Circle of Young Economists (CJE), in partnership with the research centre LINKS.

In fact, in 2007, the trade balance registered a deficit of MAD 134.6 billion, a rise of 39% compared to the previous year. This was a result of an increase of 22% in imports (MAD 257 billion), against 7.5% in exports (122.4 billion). In 2008, the same trend is being observed, if not worse.

What's behind this situation? All participants agreed that the main reason is Morocco's dependence on the outside in terms of equipment, cereals and most importantly oil, the prices of which have quintupled in recent months.

Another problem is the Morocco's concentration on Europe, which is the country's main trade partner, with France having the lion's share (46%). This is why participants called on the sector's players to diversify their markets as well as their products.

Most participants recognised, however, that despite the deterioration of goods exports, services are doing well.

Concerning the FTAs that Morocco has signed with a number of Arab and western countries (75), the economic experts agreed that Morocco has not benefited from any of them, questioned the agreements' terms and the way they were negotiated.

“Negotiations were conducted in a way that was more defensive than offensive. We concentrated more on how to manage imports flow than how to penetrate the new markets,” stressed Mohamed Benayyad, the secretary general of the National Council of Foreign Trade (CNCE).

He added that FTAs should be more coherent, in the sense that they include most sectors -industry, services and agriculture-, so as to benefit economic players.

In this highly competitive context, Morocco is ceding parts of the market to other Mediterranean exporters like Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia.

Solutions?

Many solutions were proposed during this study day. The most important was the elaboration of a new strategy, involving both the public and private sector, a strategy that includes the diversification of the offer, besides working on the price-quality relationship.

“A new marketing is also necessary for the promotion of Moroccan products and the search for new target-based markets. The role of both operators and institutional investors has also to be redefined,” said the Director General of the Moroccan Centre for the Promotion of Exports (CMPE).

He underlined in this respect that the CMPE, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Trade, is currently working on a new marketing strategy, with the elaboration of a new Logo for the Morocco product.

Much can be done in terms of imports as well, in order to improve the situation, said other participants.

Moroccans have to consume national products to encourage production and reduce the weight of imports. That is why a new offer has to be developed to meet the needs of a population increasingly demanding.

“We have to work more on imports because we can't continue to import things which we can produce here in Morocco,” stressed one of the experts during debate time.

The CJE is an association created in March 2008 by a group of young academics and executives. Its mission is to reflect on economic and socio-economic issues, and contribute to the modernisation of the Moroccan society and economy.