President of the Moroccan Employers Body (CGEM), Chakib Alj, held a meeting in Brussels on Thursday with the President of Business Europe Pierre Gattaz, to discuss ways to strengthen trade and investment relations between Morocco and the EU, to advance new trade and southern neighborhood strategy and to create new partnerships between Moroccan and European companies for stronger cooperation.
Business Europe, CGEM and EuroCham Morocco adopted a joint statement on September 21st, which calls for a modernization of the framework of EU-Morocco trade and investment relations.
This modernization will unleash the unexplored economic potential of the EU-Morocco partnership to support an effective and sustainable post-pandemic economic recovery.
Through this agreement, the three bodies are also calling for "a Morocco-EU free trade area," which they see as a "strategic necessity" to further foster integrated and sustainable supply chains, build a digital economy, and support small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The visit of the President of the CGEM to Brussels was also marked by meetings with EU high-level officials, including Olivér Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood, as well as MEPs Nathalie Loiseau, President of the Security and Defense Commission at the European Parliament, and Andrey Kovatchev, Vice-President of the EPP Group.
Discussions focused on the means to inject new momentum into Morocco-EU economic relations through, in particular, improving the business climate, promoting green investment, facilitating transport, trade in services and movement of professionals and goods.
