Minister Luigi Di Maio is on a mission to Morocco: his agenda includes official meetings with the Head of the Government Saadeddine El Othmani and with the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita. Bilateral relations between Italy and the Kingdom of Morocco are traditionally excellent and based on utmost cooperation on issues of common interest, such as migration, the stabilisation process in Libya and the fight against terrorism. During today’s visit, this cooperation concretised with a Joint Declaration establishing a multi-dimensional strategic partnership between Rome and Rabat.
Morocco is a strategic Country for Italy by reason of its economic growth and the numerous investment opportunities for our companies: at present more than 252 Italian enterprises are operating in the North African Country. As a party to numerous free trade agreements, Morocco is progressively asserting itself as the gateway to Africa, to which our economic system is looking at with growing attention: in 2018, total trade flows between Italy and Morocco grew by 5.6%, from 2.89 billion euros in 2017 to 3.51 billion euros last year. During the same period, our exports to the North African Country rose by 7.6%.
The Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic and consular network in Morocco is made up by the Embassy in Rabat and the Consulate General in Casablanca, in addition to three honorary Consulates (in Agadir, Marrakech and Fes), five consular correspondents and an Italian Cultural Institute in the Country’s capital. These offices provide services to the more than 6,500 Italians permanently residing in the Country, in addition to the numerous Italian tourists.
