ANSAmed
(ANSAmed) – ROME, NOVEMBER 14 – Italian employers federation Confindustria and Moroccan institutions called for reinforcing bilateral trade at a conference at Rome’s Grand Mosque on Wednesday organized by the Italy-Morocco Friendship Association and the Italian Institute for Asia and the Mediterranean (ISIAMED).
”Opening to foreign trade, to Mediterranean markets and to Morocco in particular is the only way for Italy to recover its economic growth,” Confindustria Internationalization Committee President Paolo Zegna said.
While Italy has a consolidated presence in Morocco, the numbers have room for growth, especially in the agro-industrial, green technologies and logistics sectors, according to Zegna.
”There are currently 300 Italian companies doing business in Morocco. Our objective is to convince more and more small and medium businesses to cross the Mediterranean,” Zegna added.
At yearly turnover of 50 billion euros, the tourism sector must not be overlooked, said Jazia Santissi, who directs the Moroccan Tourist Board in Italy. The government has launched a strategy to attract 20 million visitors by 2020, she said. ”In view of this ambitious objective, the country wants to attract foreign investors to build new reception infrastructure and to renovate existing ones in an environmentally conscious way, by developing sustainable tourism,” Santissi explained.
”Morocco is a country with solid growth and our trade volume is already intense, but there is still enormous untapped potential,” said Moroccan ambassador to Italy, Hassan Abouyoub.
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