February Edition 2021

21 Morocco became the fourth country in recent months to normalize relations with Israel, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, and opened up immediate opportunities for economic collaboration. “They are going reopen their liaison offices in Rabat and Tel Aviv immediately with the intention to open embassies. And they are going to promote economic cooperation between Israeli and Moroccan companies,” White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner told reporters. “We will look to develop innovative relationships in the economic and technological fields” King Mohammed Morocco will also seek “to develop innovative relationships in the economic and technological fields. As part of this goal, there will be work on renewing liaison offices in the two countries, as was the case in the past for many years, until 2002,” King Mohammed said. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Morocco ranked third among Arab countries trading with Israel. In 2018, Israeli exports to Morocco amounted to USD 5 million and imports from Morocco reached USD 68 million. These figures do not include security technology exports and trade via third countries. These figures are set to jump enormously. Opens the gates to cooperation in agriculture, water, tourism, homeland security, cybersecurity, and advanced medicine Gadi Arieli, CEO of the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, which has mapped the opportunities, said, "The agreement opens the gates to cooperation in many areas including agriculture, water, tourism, homeland security, cybersecurity, and advanced medicine. We welcome this new and additional market for exports and the business opportunities that the agreement brings." In late December, an Israeli-US delegation landed in Morocco to sign protocols inRabat topave theway for trade relations focusingonagriculture, water, infrastructures and tourism. MOROCCO OPENS UP TO ISRAEL BUSINESS