Morocco-Russia Relations: A common Will To Strengthen Agricultural Trade

 

MAP

The official opening of this forum was chaired by Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests Mohammed Sadiki and the Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sergei Levin.

The organization of this Business Forum responds to a shared will, clearly displayed by HM King Mohammed VI and Russian President Vladimir Poutine, to establish a new model of economic partnership with strong involvement of the private sector, reinforced by the declaration of an in-depth strategic partnership between the two countries, said a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests.

In his opening remarks, Sadiki recalled that this partnership was considerably strengthened by the signing of several agreements in the sanitary and phytosanitary fields since 2012 and resulted in the entry into force of the “green corridor” which marked the start of a new era of trade promotion between Morocco and Russia.

Quoted in the press release, Sadiki also underlined the special place granted by the Moroccan Green Plan to Morocco’s agricultural trade policy and the various measures taken to promote foreign trade which have contributed to doubling the value of agricultural exports between 2008 and 2018, from 15.2 billion dirhams in 2008 to 36.3 billion dirhams in 2018.

Sadiki and Levine expressed the common will of their two agricultural departments to work towards greater facilitation and promotion of trade in agricultural products, with the ambition that the green corridor will accelerate trade between the two countries.

The Forum took place in plenary session, marked by speeches by official representatives of the two countries on the state of bilateral trade in agricultural products, investment opportunities and development prospects.

Sectoral and B2B meetings were organized in the second session of the forum between professionals from different sectors to discuss topics of common interest and explore the different investment and business opportunities, according to the same source.

Regarding economic relations between Morocco and Russia, the ministry said that the volume of agricultural trade reached 2.9 billion MAD over 2015-2019, representing an average of 19% of global trade between the two countries, adding that Morocco is Russia’s leading trade partner in Africa.

Agricultural exports to Russia amounted to an average of 1.8 billion MAD during the period 2015-2019, representing an average share of 82% of overall exports from Morocco to Russia, according to the same source.

This forum was attended mainly by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco in Russia, the commercial representative of the Russian Federation in Morocco, and representatives of the ministerial departments of agriculture of Russia and Morocco.