Morocco expects textile sector cooperation with China

16 May '14

2 min read

Morocco, located in Maghreb region of North Africa, is looking forward to signing of an economic cooperation agreement, which also includes the textile and garment sector, during the impending visit of the King of Morocco in June this year.

Ahead of the visit, Moroccan Ambassador to China Jafar Al Hakim said that the Moroccan Embassy has started issuing one-year long-term visas for Chinese businessmen intending to invest in Morocco.

The textile and clothing industry is the largest employer in Morocco and the industry is one of the focus areas of development for the Moroccan Government. Europe is a major market for Moroccan textile and garment industry owing to geographical and cultural proximity.

According to the Moroccan Textile and Apparel Association (AMITH), the annual output value of the textile and garment industry in the country is about €6 billion, of which about €4 billion worth of goods are exported and the remaining €2 billion are consumed by the domestic market.

In order to promote the rapid development of the textile and the clothing industry, the Moroccan Ministry of Trade and Industry last year announced the 2025 Textile Industry Plan, which aims at increasing the scale of production, improving and updating production technology and enhancing regional and international competitiveness.

The Textile Plan 2025 primarily focuses on three areas – textiles and clothing; home textiles; and textiles for technical applications. The ambitious plan, implemented from this year, aims to turn Morocco into a leading textile exporting nation at the regional and international levels.

Morocco has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with Turkey, the EU, the US and the Arab countries, so Chinese companies investing in Morocco would be able to more easily enter other markets.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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