Free Trade Agreements concluded by Morocco : what implications on the country’s industrialization ?
As part of its study program "Global competitiveness and positioning of Morocco in the global system", IRES held on April 25th, 2012, a seminar on the theme "Free Trade Agreements concluded by Morocco : What implications on the country’s industrialization ? ".
Led by national and foreign experts of issues related to free trade, this seminar examined global and sectoral impacts of trade agreements signed by Morocco, with a specific emphasis on the competitive effects resulting from these agreements on some industrial branches. This scientific event was also an opportunity to discuss the required levers so as to maximize the benefits of these agreements on the country's industrialization and therefore on its overall development.
Discussions held during the seminar stressed the importance of accelerating the comprehensive upgrading of Morocco’s productive sector in order to strengthen its competitiveness against the competing offer both on domestic and international markets, of optimizing the State incentive system in favor of domestic firms, through a results-based evaluation system, as well as developing coordination among public and private actors in the design and implementation of free trade agreements.
Other relevant aspects were examined in depth such as the reinforcement of the governance of free trade agreements as a mean to ensure their consistency with the strategic interests of the country, the need to fight vigorously against all forms of unfair competition which are detrimental to local production and attracting foreign investment with high potential in terms of technology transfer acceleration and improvement of Morocco’s international specialization profile.
