Mirza Ishtiaq Baig
Honorary Consul General of Morocco & Chairman Pak-Morocco Business Council
Business
Pakistan- Morocco
Trade Relation
Pakistan and Morocco are two brotherly Islamic countries tied with a strong knot of religious heritage, brotherhood and identity of views in all areas of common interest. Despite brotherly relations, the current trade volume does not depict the actual potential between both countries and is far behind the real potential.
Morocco is the gateway to Africa and Spain is just a few KM away from Morocco by sea. It is indeed heartening to see the rapid progress made by Morocco in recent years. The biggest port of Africa & Mediterranean ‘Tanger Med’ and the newly inaugurated fastest train of Africa ‘Al Buraq’ smoother & faster than bullet train & Euro Star with a speed of 350 KM/Hour are testimony of the progress Morocco has achieved under the dynamic leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. Morocco is also known as a tourist destination and is considered among the most favourite tourist destinations. Last year 15 million tourists visited Morocco, the tourism from Pakistan has also increased many folds.
Apart from being the Hon. Consul General of the Kingdom of Morocco, I am also Chairman Pak-Morocco Business Council of FPCCI and President Pak-Morocco Business Forum incorporated with the Securities & Exchange Commission of
Pakistan (SECP). I am honored to represent Morocco, a country I have close association with and I consider Morocco my second home. Having literally spent almost two decades of my life living in Morocco, the pride is mine in saying that my awareness of the country, its people, customs, tradition & language has instilled a great sense of belonging in me and prove to be a perfect liaison between the two countries where I possess a wealth of exposure and connections that is surely bringing excellent results.
Every year, a visit of a leading businessmen delegation to Morocco and organizing a biryani festival to promote Pakistani basmati rice has been a great success in increasing bilateral trade. The volume of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Morocco has reached $800 million and has the potential to increase the trade to $1 billion in the coming years.
Morocco has Free Trade Agreements with Europe, USA and Türkiye and Pakistan businessmen and exporters can take advantage of these FTAs by having a set up in Morocco to get access to these markets.
GENERAL INFROMATION:
Member Trade Bloc: OIC, WTO
Official Language: Arabic
Capital: Rabat
Population: 37.46 million
Surface area: 446.300 sq.km
Currency: Dirham
| KEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| GDP (US$ bn) | 142.8 | 138.0 | 143.9 |
| GDP per capita (US$) | 3,934.3 | 3,764.7 | 3,888.5 |
| Real GDP growth (% change YOY) | -7.9 | 1.1 | 3.0 |
| Inflation (% change YOY) | 1.4 | 6.6 | 6.1 |
| Total Exports (US$ Billion) | 36.5 | 42.3 | 42.4 |
| Total Imports (US$ Billion) | 58.6 | 72.8 | 70.7 |
GDP-COMPOSITION:
Agriculture 14.8%, Industry 29.1%, Services 56.1% MAJOR INDUSTRIES: Phosphate rock mining and processing , food processing , leather goods, textiles, construction, tourism.
MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS OF MOROCCO
Major Exports Destination:
| 1. Spain | 22.5% |
| 2. France | 20.5% |
| 3. Italy | 5.2% |
| 4. Pakistan | 1.2% |
Major Import Sources
| 1. Spain | 15.7% |
| 2. China | 10.6% |
| 3. France | 10.6% |
| 4. Pakistan | 0.01% |
MOROCCO’S MAIN ITEM OF EXPORTS: Clothing and textiles, electric components, inorganic chemicals, transistors, crude minerals, fertilizers (including phosphates), petroleum products, citrus fruits, vegetables, fish
MOROCCO’S MAIN ITEM OF IMPORTS: Crude petroleum, textile fabric, telecommunications equipment, wheat, gas and electricity, transistors, plastics.
TRADE BETWEEN PAKISTAN & MOROCCO (MILLION US$)
| YEAR | EXPORT | IMPORT | BALANCE OF TRADE | TOTAL EXPORT OF PAKISTAN | % SHARE IN TOTAL EXP. | TOTAL IMPORTS OF PAKISTAN | % SHARE IN TOTAL IMPORTS |
| 2019 | 36.2 | 369.5 | (333.3) | 23,818.8 | 0.2 | 50,511.0 | 0.7 |
| 2020 | 37.0 | 344.6 | (277.7) | 21,994.0 | 0.2 | 45,895.0 | 0.7 |
| 2021 | 43.0 | 588.7 | (502.6) | 28,880.0 | 0.1 | 73,106.6 | 0.7 |
| 2022 | 44.7 | 849.2 | (759.8) | 31,175.9 | 0.1 | 71,104.7 | 1.1 |
| 2023 | 47.9 | 493.0 | (445.2) | 28,950.1 | 0.2 | 50,362.5 | 1.0 |
| MAJOR ITEMS OF EXPORTS FROM | MAJOR ITEMS OF IMPORTS FROM MOROCCO TO Pakistan | ||||||||||
| MILLION US$ | |||||||||||
| Specific Commodity Description | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Specific Commodity Description | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Cotton | 16.4 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 13.2 | 18.0 | Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, … | 262.5 | 203.4 | 378.4 | 591.7 | 256.7 |
| Man-made staple fibers | 5.2 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.8 | Fertilisers | 83.7 | 80.9 | 109.6 | 151.3 | 165.9 |
| Other made-up textile articles; sets; worn clothing and worn textile articles; rags |
1.9 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 3.3 | Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement | 20.3 | 28.8 | 53.5 | 59.2 | 69.3 |
| Cereals | 1.4 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 1.6 | Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other colouring … |
0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Others made | 7.2 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 10.8 | 11.8 | Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits;miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal … | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
