Bernama
Morocco is a gateway to Africa and the Arab world, said Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Secretary Carlos de Icaza Gonzalez.
“Mexico’s choice to open an international trade office in Morocco is due to its unique geo-strategic location and opportunities the country offers,” De Icaza Gonzalez said in an interview published Monday by the French-language daily Liberation.
Mexico last week opened a trade office in Casablanca, its first in Africa, to serve as a bridge for trade and investment opportunities between the country and the continent.
De Icaza Gonzalez highlighted the huge potential in Africa and said it was never too late to have an economic presence, especially as the process of internationalisation of the Mexican economy continues.
“Morocco is interesting first as an export hub for the continent and the North African region,” he said and underlined the will of several large Mexican companies to invest in Morocco in different sectors.
“We are here with some important companies like Bimbo (food industry) which is the largest producer and exporter of bread.”
De Icaza Gonzalez said there is also Gruma, which has 101 factories around the world and is the largest exporter and producer of corn and flour, and Cemex in the building material sector which has operations in 50 countries and is the biggest producer and exporter of concrete.
Director-deneral of the country’s trade and investment promotion agency ProMexico, Francisco Gonzalez, said Mexico’s strategy in Morocco is to bring Mexican companies to set up shop there and continue expansion across the continent.
“This strategy is based on an analysis that has been carried out for 10 years by our offices in Europe, visits, interviews and surveys with our embassies and offices,” Gonzalez said.
“With the information collected, we have realised that the real gateway to the continent and Europe is Morocco thanks to its capacities and openness,” he added.
Last year, Morocco exported 679 million dirhams (about US$76 million) worth of goods to Mexico and imported some 422 million dirhams from the Central American nation in return. (US$1 = MAD 8.92)
