The AICC was pleased to welcome the newly appointed Moroccan ambassador to Ireland, HE Mr. Lahcen Mahraoui, and his Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Rachid Seghrouchni, to the Chamber on 17th January 2017 to discuss Moroccan/Irish trade and commercial relations and to consider new areas of potential opportunity in the coming years.
At the outset, it was acknowledged that Morocco is geographically the nearest Arab country to Ireland and that there is a long history of bilateral trade and commercial involvement between both countries which offers many opportunities for further growth and expansion.
Mr. Rachid Seghrouchni, Deputy Head of Mission, Moroccan Embassy, Ahmad R. Younis, Secretary-General & CEO, AICC, , HE Mr. Lahcen Mahraoui, Ambassador, Moroccan Embassy and Joe Geoghegan, Chairman, AICC.
Also, Morocco has “Advanced Status” in its relationship with the EU in acknowledgement of the several formal Agreements now in place between Morocco and the EU, which, among other things, simplify greatly the conduct of business in both directions.
In recent years Morocco has witnessed the development of new industrial sectors such as automobile manufacturing, aeronautics, ICT, transport and logistics, financial services, telecoms and pharmaceuticals. These have grown up alongside the more traditional sectors of fertilisers, citrus and other fruits, vegetables, olive oils, fish products, textiles, ceramics and, of course, tourism.
Ambassador Mahraoui also highlighted that Moroccan businesses have extensive connections throughout West Africa and further into the continent, and they are interested in forming partnerships with Irish companies wishing to develop opportunities in these markets.
Morocco offers trade and investment opportunities for a broad spectrum of Irish companies ranging from agri-business and food processing to the growing areas of ICT, telecoms, financial services, logistics, sustainable energy and health/pharma products and services.
The very positive discussion led to the conclusion that both parties will consider some specific activities which could be jointly undertaken to stimulate further the level of interaction between Irish and Moroccan businesses in the coming years.