Morocco: Towards a successful regional and international integration - United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

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Morocco: Towards a successful regional and international integration

ESCWA Publication: E/ESCWA/CL3.SEP/2021/TP.20


Country: Kingdom of Morocco

Publication Type: Information material

Cluster: Shared Economic Prosperity

Focus Area: Trade & regional connectivity

Initiatives: Transport and trade connectivity, Enhancing integrated national development planning

SDGs: Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Keywords: Economic integration, Technical cooperation, Trade policy, Trade expansion, Trade negotiations, Tariffs

Morocco: Towards a successful regional and international integration

March 2022

The expansion of global trade was not a fortuitous event but was rather the result of a series of extensive global trade negotiations, beginning with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was initially signed by 23 nations in 1947. The creation of such an agreement is thought to have established a set of procedures that provided stability to the global trade policy environment at the time, as well as a solid foundation for future global negotiations, ensuring increased transparency of the global trade system. In response, countries have become more accepting of opening their economies to trade and have, therefore, signed more trade agreements with other parties, whether bilaterally or regionally.

However, for these agreements to have a solid national foundation and result in more gains and fewer losses for the economy, this openness must be preceded by increased coordination and consistency between the different policies involved, namely between trade policies and economic policies. Consequently, deeper integration and more sustainable and resilient trade require consistent and sustained government commitment to the integration process, which necessitates an evaluation of the policies and trade agreements already put in place, and if needed, the development of a new strategic national plan.

This report offers a national strategic plan for the economic integration of Morocco to international and regional markets by assessing the country’s current integration performance, addressing the shortcomings of its trade integration policy, and identifying the appropriate measures to be taken for this policy to achieve its goals. The national strategic plan focuses on optimizing Morocco’s trade policy, which is only increasing imports rather than exports and aims to improve synergy and planning between the different stakeholders and work towards building good governance. In conclusion, the plan seeks to enhance and expand Morocco's economic integration.

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