Morocco's development strategy, based on products, partners diversification, minister

Moroccan Foreign Trade minister, Mustapha Mechahouri, exposed, Wednesday in Sao Paolo (south eastern Brazil), the Moroccan development strategy in exports, saying it is based on the diversification of products and partners.

Mechahouri said, at a meeting part of the United Nations ministerial Conference on Trade and Development (June 14-18), that, to achieve its goals, Morocco has "concluded several free trade deals at bilateral and regional levels, the latest of which was signed on June 15 with the United States," the ministry of Foreign Trade said in a release.

The US-Morocco agreement, signed after 13 months of negotiations, materializes the two countries' strong political will to promote strategic partnership.

At the regional level, Morocco has concluded a free trade agreement with three Arab states, namely Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, under the "Agadir accord."

Mechahouri underscored the need to eliminate non-tariffs barriers implemented by several members of the World Trade Organization (WHO). He said "growth potential in Morocco is weakened by these obstacles that stop the flourishing of productive sectors, hence investments, jobs and the improvement of living conditions.

As for WTO negotiations, the minister called for the "suppression of subsidies to exports (É) and a substantial improvement to developing countries' agricultural products' access to markets."