Morocco Projects Industrial Exports Worth $36 Bln in 2022

The flags of Morocco flutter outside Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier which is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup (Reuters)
The flags of Morocco flutter outside Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier which is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup (Reuters)
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Morocco Projects Industrial Exports Worth $36 Bln in 2022

The flags of Morocco flutter outside Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier which is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup (Reuters)
The flags of Morocco flutter outside Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier which is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup (Reuters)

Morocco's Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, said Tuesday that Morocco's industrial exports should reach 360 billion dirhams ($36 billion) in 2022.

During a session for the House of Councilors on "The outcome of the 2014-2020 Industrial Acceleration Plan", Mezzour recalled that the volume of industrial exports had not exceeded 160 billion dirhams in 2013 (before the Plan was launched).

He highlighted a progression of about 200 billion dirhams in nine years.

This Plan has achieved a "very positive" outcome by exceeding its goal of creating 500,000 jobs, said the Minister.

He added that the plan has also created integrated industrial ecosystems, supported competitiveness, strengthened the confidence of Moroccan and foreign investors in the Moroccan industry, and enhanced the Kingdom's attractiveness as a destination for industrial investment.

Mezzour said that the volume of trade with African states would reach more than 65 billion dirhams in 2022, noting that these exchanges have more than quadrupled during the period 2001-2021, from 10 billion dirhams to 46 billion dirhams in 2021.

“The ambitions are not yet achieved at this level,” he said.

Mezzour said that a set of projects still exist to consolidate trade and partnership with African countries, including the African Continental Free Trade Area, and the Dakhla Port.

After its completion in 2027, the Port is called to become a high-level gateway to Africa to improve access to African markets and accessibility of the African product to world markets, the Moroccan minister added.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.