On March 27th, AmCham organized a roundtable on US Investment in Morocco featuring special guests Minister Ahmed Reda Chami and the Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy, Robert Jackson. The event addressed, firstly, the positive trends of both U.S. investment in Morocco and trade between Morocco and the USA since the implementation of the FTA in 2006, and secondly, the changes in the current Moroccan business environment and associated challenges.

In his opening remarks, Kamal Kassis, AmCham President reported that there are currently 120 U.S. companies and nearly 50 distributors of major US brands present in the Moroccan market and that U.S. Direct Investment in Morocco has been increasing since the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement, nearly doubling from 107 million USD in 2006 to 193 million USD in 2007. This FDI is combined with the creation of 100,000 jobs, direct and indirect, and significant contributions to community development and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Mr. Kassis noted that U.S. investors are today targeting new sectors in Morocco such as tourism, with the recent investment of Colony, and the high-tech sector, such as aeronautics and automobile with the recent investment of Minco and Delphi automotive. For most of these companies, Morocco is a platform for production and export to different countries.

Robert Jackson added that U.S. - Morocco bilateral trade has more than doubled since FTA implementation and that the U.S. Government has invested heavily in targeted technical assistance and capacity building in order to ensure that Morocco also benefits from the commercial partnership.

M. Jackson praised the ability of Moroccan firms to compete on the US market, despite the high level of competition. He described the reasons to invest as three-fold: diversification of target markets, increasing saturation of the European market (especially in the textile sector), and evidence of existing success stories between the US and Morocco.

M. Jackson reinforced the commitment of the US government to support the efforts of Moroccan businesses, and stated that the US government will "remain fully engaged on the policy and practical level to resolve outstanding issues". Two events will target these issues in the near future - the second FTA Review in Washington (May), and a business forum in Morocco (June) - both intended to "discuss how to maximize the benefits and seize existing and new FTA opportunities."

Minister Chami's remarks focused on the improvement of the business climate in Morocco and the recently signed "Pact for Industrial Emergence" which will enhance key sectors' productivity and competitiveness, including offshoring, automobile, aeronautics, electronics, BPO and ITO.

Minister Chami stressed the drastic changes and reforms that Morocco has undertaken and is still undertaking at the social, political and economic level. He assured the participants that Morocco enjoys a sound and stable economy thanks to a reduced budget deficit (below 3%), a controlled inflation (below 3%), and stable money. Morocco expects a 5% growth despite the international economic downturn.

He added that further structural reforms are in progress at the administrative and judicial level. The Ministry of Justice has signed the Pact for Industrial Emergence and will reinforce mediation and arbitration. Minister Chami also mentioned that a new committee, led by the Prime Minister, was put in place to deal with reforms and enforcement.

Lastly, Minister Chami announced that the new AMDI "Agence de Developpement des Investissements" will actively promote Morocco as an attractive place for international investment. The AMDI will have offices in five main countries, including the USA.