CASABLANCA — The Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) and the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) organized Tuesday the Moroccan-Saudi Economic Forum in Casablanca, Morocco, in the presence of Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, and Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Riad Mazur.

The Moroccan-Saudi Economic Forum saw the participation of 130 Saudi and Moroccan companies, in order to advance the economic partnership that links the two kingdoms, strengthen commercial cooperation and expedite investments in the targeted sectors.

Dr. Al-Qasabi stressed, during his speech at the forum, the need for business owners in the two countries to agree to draw up plans for attracting and a clear road map and targets for the Saudi-Moroccan economic relations.

He noted the opportunities that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Morocco have in light of the projects of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, especially joint investment opportunities in Africa and Europe.

For his part, Moroccan Minister Mazur said that it is aimed to raise the volume of trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and Morocco to $5 billion annually in the coming years, stressing that this goal is possible in light of the huge opportunities and capabilities of the two countries, calling on Saudi investors to benefit from 670 industrial projects in Morocco.

A number of Saudi and Moroccan entities discussed the opportunities and services available to investors, including: Ministry of Investment, the Saudi Export Development Authority, the National Center for Palms and Dates, and the Moroccan Bank of Industrial Projects.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Exports Development Authority (Saudi Exports) has organized a commercial mission to Morocco under the identity of the "Saudi Made", in conjunction with the Moroccan-Saudi Economic Forum in Casablanca.

The Saudi Exports, through organizing this mission, targets several sectors, such as constructions, food, medical sector and car spare parts, where the event saw the participation of some 20 Saudi companies and more than 200 companies importing from Morocco, as part of the authority's strategy to expand the spread base of Saudi products.

The mission also seeks to enhance regional presence, identify and promote international commercial opportunities and connect exporters with buyers as part of the positive indicators and the increase of commercial movement between Riyadh and Rabat and in implementation of directives of the wise leadership to support and develop relations between the two kingdoms, instill brotherly and historical ties and contribute to increasing the commercial exchange volume.

Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports to Morocco over the past five years (2016-2021) reached SR9.17 billion, where such missions are considered an important opportunity to discuss challenges facing exporters and importers and means to overcome them in cooperation with relevant government institutions in the two countries in a way that contributes to realizing the targets of Saudi Vision 2030 to increase the percentage of Saudi non-oil exports to at least 50 percent of the non-oil GDP by 2030. — SPA