Morocco is situated in the north west of Africa and has a unique & strategic position – 3,000 km of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean & 550 km on the Mediterranean Sea, with mountains, plains, desert, rivers and about 1,000,000 hectares of forests. The total area is 446 550 km2.
Morocco has made remarkable progress over the past few years in democratisation, respect for human rights and social and economic reform. A vibrant civil society and a vocal press contribute to one of the most open and tolerant of Middle East and North Africa countries.
Morocco enjoys financial stability and economic reform is firmly on the Government’s agenda. On October 13, 2008, the European Union granted Morocco “advanced status, reflecting the EU’s decision to strengthen trade and political ties as well as to reward Morocco for its economic and democratic reform process. An EU-Morocco Agricultural Agreement liberalising trade in agricultural products, fish and fishery products came into effect in October 2012. The EU also began negotiating a Deeper Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with Morocco in 2012. Its main objective is the progressive integration of Morocco’s economy into the EU single market. The agreement will cover a full range of regulatory areas of mutual interest, such as trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, investment protection, public procurement and competition policy. In June 2011, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) granted the Moroccan parliament the “Partner for Democracy” status.
Diplomatic links between Britain and Morocco go back at least seven centuries. Britain is one of Morocco’s oldest partners, and was Morocco’s main trading partner during the 19th century.
Over 400,000 British tourists visited Morocco in 2012 ranking third after the French and the
Spanish.
Research by the Boston Consulting Group in 2010 identified 40 African companies that are growing rapidly and emerging as global competitors. Five of those companies are headquartered in Morocco. The research also identifies a group of fast-growing nations which it describes as “African Lions”, Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, who will “drive the continents growth, similar to the Asian Tigers.”
The UK is among the top six foreign investors in Morocco.