Morocco: Overseas Investments Rise 68% in H1

Chinese tourists browse at a shopping area in Casablanca in 2016. Youssef Boudlal/Reuters
Chinese tourists browse at a shopping area in Casablanca in 2016. Youssef Boudlal/Reuters
TT

Morocco: Overseas Investments Rise 68% in H1

Chinese tourists browse at a shopping area in Casablanca in 2016. Youssef Boudlal/Reuters
Chinese tourists browse at a shopping area in Casablanca in 2016. Youssef Boudlal/Reuters

Moroccan overseas investments rose 68.1 percent during H1 of 2019 to reach MAD4.2 billion (USD444 million) end of June, according to the latest statistics from the Foreign Exchange Office (Office des Changes) Friday.

The key Moroccan investment operation abroad was Maroc Telecom acquiring Tigo Chad mid-March. Further, Addoha Group launched its investments in luxurious and medium real estate in Côte d'Ivoire end of April.

In this context, Addoha Group opened a branch for its company ‘Prestigia’ - specialized in luxurious real estate - in Abidjan, in concurrence with launching projects there for luxurious and tourist residency at the high-class Plateau business town.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Exchange Office revealed a relapse in net foreign investments flow in Morocco during this period by around 19.6 percent, reaching MAD8.3 billion (USD872 million) end of June.

The office added that the Moroccan trade deficit deepened by 4.9 percent, increasing to MAD102.5 billion (USD10.8 billion) due to the hike of Moroccan imports of products and goods by 3.8 percent to MAD250.6 billion (USD26.4 billion) while exports rose by 3.1 percent to MAD148 billion (USD15.6 billion).

During this period, Morocco suffered from the shrinkage of the international automotive market – this affected exports of the automotive industry making it the first exporting sector in Morocco.

Moreover, agriculture products and food industries exports witnessed a rise by 6.7 percent – the value of the emerging industry of aviation exports rose by 12 percent, while phosphate and its derivatives exports increased by 1.1 percent.

The Moroccan imports were topped by processing products with MAD65.4 billion (USD6.9 billion), an increase of 9.9 percent, in addition to semi-manufactured products with a value of MAD54 billion (USD5.7 billion) i.e. a rise of 5.7 percent, and manufactured consumer products with a value of MAD56 billion (USD5.9 billion) an increase of 3.2 percent.

However, imports of energy, raw material, and food products dropped by 0.7 percent, 4.2 percent, and 2.8 percent, consecutively.

The services’ balance credit improved by 13.2 percent, totaling MAD40.4 billion (USD4.25 billion) and making use of the enhancement in tourism incomes and the performance of the offset services sector.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
TT

China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.