UAE, Morocco finalise CEPA terms

The United Arab Emirates and Morocco have finalised the terms of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that will launch a new chapter of mutually beneficial trade and investment ties between the two countries.

The conclusion of negotiations was confirmed by the signing of a joint statement by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco.

The UAE-Morocco CEPA will facilitate the free flow of goods and services by reducing or removing tariffs, eliminating unnecessary barriers to trade, improving market access for services, enhancing customs harmonisation and establishing flexible rules of origin for goods.

It will also establish platforms for investment and private-sector collaboration in priority sectors such as renewable energy, tourism, infrastructure, mining, food security, transport, and logistics.

The two nations shared $1.3 billion in non-oil trade in 2023, an increase of 30 per cent on 2022 and 83 per cent more than was recorded in 2019. The UAE is the largest Arab investor in Morocco with more than $15 billion invested in a variety of strategic projects.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi welcomed the latest step in the UAE’s foreign agenda. He said, “Morocco is one the largest and most competitive economies in Africa and we look forward to working in unison to create new opportunities for our private sectors.”

Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco, stated, “The agreement, which strengthens the legal arsenal between the two countries, aims to support the development of trade and investment, by opening new opportunities to upgrade the level of joint cooperation in economic and commercial fields,” he added.

Morocco is the sixth largest economy on the African continent. In 2023, its GDP was $152.4 billion and is expected to grow by a further 3.5 per cent in 2024. While agriculture remains the largest employer, the services sector is the largest contributor to GDP accounting for 54 per cent, with the industrial sector contributing 23 per cent.

The UAE’s CEPA programme aims to increase the country’s non-oil foreign trade to AED 4 trillion by expanding relations with strategically important markets around the world. In 2023, the UAE’s non-oil trade in goods reached an all-time high of $710 billion, a 12.6 per cent increase on 2022 – and 34.7 per cent more than 2021.

Morocco is the latest African nation to conclude CEPA terms with the UAE, following Mauritius, Kenya and Congo-Brazzaville.