Morocco–Pakistan relations

Pakistan-Morocco relations

Pakistan	Morocco

Morocco–Pakistan relations have traditionally been strong and cordial,^[1] since their establishment in the 1950s, soon after Pakistan's independence from the United Kingdom. Morocco maintains an embassy in Islamabad, whilst Pakistan maintains one in Rabat.

Bilateral relations

Both countries have co-operated significantly since the past and continue to widely expand their relations, in the past Pakistan has said that it does not recognise the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Republic in the Western Sahara, and that the regions status is disputed and remains to be decided by UN Resolutions, but at the same time it showed its support for the Moroccan point of view that the dispute is an internal matter.

Economic relations

In late 2007, the Moroccan Ambassador, Mohammed Rida El Fassi, invited and encouraged Pakistani entrepreneurs and businessmen to take advantage of Morocco’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the USA and the European Union (EU), particularly in the textile and readymade garments. In a meeting with the Vice-President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), Zubair Tufail, the ambassador said that under the FTA, Morocco has free access of readymade garments to the United States, a huge market for garments.^[2] “Morocco is a big exporter of readymade garments to Europe, and we invite Pakistani companies to share the Moroccan export to Europe,” Fassi said. The ambassador went on to invite Pakistani companies to set up garment units in Morocco, where even a 30% value addition is acceptable to the European Union.

The Vice-President of FPCCI, Zubair Tufail, accepted and welcomed the Ambassador's offer in return and stressed that the private sector of both the countries will come closer to open new possibilities for bilateral trade. Currently, Pakistan's exports to Morocco stand at US$11.5 million, whilst Moroccan exports to Pakistan stand at US$147 million.

References

1. "Morocco-Pakistan Relations". Ishtiaq Baig. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
2. http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=9230 Retrieved February 7, 2009. Archived August 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.