By Dr. Ari Petäjävaara
FINNISH COMPANIES HAVE A BIG OPPORTUNITY IN THE MOROCCO MARKET.
MOROCCO LAYS ONLY 14 KILOMETERS AWAY FROM EUROPE, THAT IS, FROM SPAIN. THE ECONOMY OF MOROCCO IS STABLE AND INTERNATIONAL. MOROCCO IS INVESTING IN CLEAN GREEN ENERGY AND IS EVEN AHEAD OF EUROPE IN MANY INNOVATIONS.
THE MEETING AND AGENDA OF THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF FINLAND AND MOROCCO IN HELSINKI ON 5. AUGUST 2024 OPENED A NEW COOPERATION.
FINLAND'S EXPORTS TO MOROCCO WERE IN MAY 18 MILLION EUROS, WHICH ANTICIPATES EXPORTS OF ABOUT 100 MILLION IN 2024. IMPORTS FROM MOROCCO IN THE SAME MONTH WERE 2.6 MILLION EUROS, WHICH ANTICIPATES AN ANNUAL IMPORT OF AROUND 20-30 MILLION EUROS.
Cooperation between our countries has intensified
A successful breakfast seminar for companies was held on October 27, 2021 at the Helsinki Bourse Club under the leadership of Morocco's Ambassador to Finland, Mohamed Achgalou. The breakfast seminar was a great opening to the now continuing cooperation between Finland and Morocco, when the Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and the Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita signed a cooperation agreement when they met in Helsinki on August 6, 2024. The result born out of the meeting was a 15-point program declaration, which defined the goals of two friendly countries in commercial, cultural and political cooperation. In the meeting it was for example agreed to organize a Business Seminar in 2025 between Moroccan and Finnish companies.
From left: Ambassador of Morocco in Finland and Estonia Mohamed Achgalou, Ministry for Foreign Affairs Director of North Africa Ann-Christine Krank, Director of Banque Populare Kamal Laghzoui and CEO Ari Petäjävaara. The first opening of the Morocco-Finland seminar was on 27. October 2021 at the Helsinki Bourse Club.
From left: Morocco's ambassador to Finland and Estonia, Mohamed Achgalou, center Moderator Ari Petäjävaara and right director Kamal Laghzoui from Banque Populaire. The seminar is underway at the Helsinki Stock Exchange Club.
Morocco is the Gateway to the rest of Africa
The business world has highlighted in the seminars organized in Helsinki by the Embassy of Morocco in Finland the first Africa Strategy of the government of Finland, which will pave the way for Finnish companies both to Morocco and the rest of Africa.
"Morocco is the Gateway to the rest of Africa, both via its own investments as well as through its transport connections. Casablanca is a major air traffic hub also to the rest of Africa."
Morocco's economy is stable and energetic, their GDP in year 2022 was USD 134.1 billion and the during the last 10 years the trend has been upward. Morocco's population in 2022 was 37.46 million people.
Finland's exports to Morocco have previously been mainly wood, paper and cardboard. The companies emphasize that now we are not only talking about exports but also imports. Imports from Morocco to Finland have been for example fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes and apples.
The political framework opens up new opportunities for Morocco
The Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, participated for his part in the opening of the political framework in spring in 20-21 May 2024 in both Rabat and Tangier. At the same time, Finnish companies made significant deals in the port of Tangier.
Speaker Halla-aho stated, that Morocco is an important partner for Finland and the EU to Morocco. He repeated the same statement in his speech on July 30, 2024 in Helsinki, in the speech he held on Morocco's National Day, the King's Throne Day.
Photo: The Moroccan National Day reception on 30.7.2024 in Helsinki, left Speaker of the Parliament Jussi Halla-aho, center Morocco's Ambassador to Finland Mohamed Achgalou, and right Toomas Kivimägi, the Deputy Speaker of the Estonian Parliament, and also Chairman of the Estonia-Morocco parliamentary group. The greeting was a bridge of friendship cake by the chef of the Moroccan embassy (Photo: Nora El Addaoui)