Morocco–Pakistan relations

Pakistan-Morocco relations

Pakistan	Morocco

Morocco and Pakistan have always enjoyed close, brotherly and cordial relations.^[1]

Diplomatic missions

Morocco has an embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan has an embassy in Rabat.

History

The diplomatic relations between Morocco and Pakistan were established in 1950s.

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 Western Sahara and that its status is disputed and remains to be decided by UN Resolutions, but at the same time it gave the Moroccan point of view that it 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 USA and 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 USA, which is 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 $11.5 million, whilst Moroccan exports to Pakistan stand at $147 million

References

1. ^ http://ishtiaqbaig.info/content/view/59/78/
2. ^ http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=9230