By Aryeh Savir
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivay signed an economic-commercial cooperation agreement on Feb. 21 with Morocco’s Industry and Trade Minister Ryad Mezzour, a bit over a year after the two countries announced the normalization of their relations.
The agreement regulates the trade between the countries and will facilitate exporters and importers, business delegations and the establishment of a joint economic committee for the two countries that will promote the implementation of the agreement.
Barbivay, who signed the agreement while in Morocco, stated that the agreement is “intended to bring about economic growth and prosperity for Israel and Morocco.”
Her office is working to increase bilateral trade between the economies from $131 million to $500 million in the next five years, she said.
Mezzour crowned the Israeli visit as “groundbreaking” and said that it “created the opportunity for us to identify regions and channels for bilateral industrial and commercial cooperation and partnership.
Together, we will embark on an intense, fruitful and beneficial partnership for both parties.”
Israel’s Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Industry explained that the main points of the agreement are the development of economic and trade relations between the parties, specifically increasing the volume of trade and removing barriers to normal economic relations, including discriminatory laws, regulations or procedures.
The countries agreed to facilitate each other’s participation in exhibitions and economic conferences, collaborate in the field of professional and technological knowledge sharing, and organize study tours, seminars, trade shows and visits of businessmen and trade delegations.
According to Ohad Cohen, foreign trade administration director, areas of cooperation include digital health and medical equipment, water technology, agriculture, cyber and fintech, food security, green energy, air travel, food technology and smart transportation.
Israeli exports to Morocco leaped by 192% in 2021, an apparent outcome of the signing of the Abraham Accords a year ago in December, 2020.
The total sum in exports went from $8,763,000 in the first nine months of 2020 to $25,584,000 in the first nine months of 2021.
Data from the foreign trade administration show that the main increase occurred in the “transportation products” sector, with $5,779,000 in trade in the first nine months of 2020, to $19,050,000 in the first nine months of 2021, three times the sales in the previous year.
Another sector that showed impressive growth is the mechanization and electronics sector, with $279,000 in the first nine months of 2020, to $1,274,000 in the first nine months of 2021.
Other export categories of Israeli goods to Morocco that showed a more modest increase were chemicals, pharmaceuticals and the chemical industry, and rubber and plastic products.
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