Shocking figures revealed by the website “visa Schengen”, dedicated to news, updates and statistics of Schengen visas, on the expenses of Moroccans during the year 2021 on visa applications to enter different European countries.

According to the same source, Moroccans paid at least 3 million euros in 2021 for visa applications at one of the embassies and consulates of Schengen countries in Morocco, but did not receive them.

He pointed out that although Morocco is the fifth most requested country in the world for Schengen visas, after the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, it has the highest rejection rate among these five countries.

Schengen representatives in Morocco rejected a total of 157 thousand one hundred Moroccan visa applications for the region during the same year, which represents 27.6% of the total applications submitted, while the rejection rate in the first four countries was 3.2%, 16.9%, 2.7% and 4.3%, respectively.

Figures from the same source indicate that the French state is the Schengen country most rejected by Moroccans for obtaining a visa, since out of 58310 applications submitted in 2021, this European country rejected 20369, equivalent to 35%.

Spain comes second in terms of the number of rejected applications, but this is much lower than in France, as out of 84,499 Schengen visa applications submitted to the Iberian state, 15,137 were rejected, which is equivalent to 18 per cent.

In this context, Besart Bajrami, founder of the “SchengenVisaInfo” website, said that if we take into account that the cost of a unified, non-refundable Schengen visa application is 80 euros, Moroccans have spent at least 3 million euros on visas that they have not obtained, even though this amount may be twice as high.

“3 million is not even close to the actual amount Moroccans spend on applying for Schengen visas,” he added, referring in this context to a set of additional expenses Moroccans are forced to pay for the preparation of their application file and the required documents, which are mostly covered by a third party (visa filing agencies).

Moroccans are also obliged to pay for travel insurance, they often book hotels and flights with non-refundable fees, as well as paying a small amount here and there for other documents they have to provide, so, adds the same expert, “it is difficult to calculate the total amount spent in this regard in 2021, but the amount of visa fees is at least 3 million euros”, notes Bajrami.

Overall, France, Spain and Germany are the three Schengen countries responsible for the majority of rejected Schengen visas in 2021, where 252,522 applications were rejected out of a total of 379,207 applications rejected for the rest of the region.

Read Also: NGOs condemn ‘discriminatory’ visa conditions for Moroccan applicants

The post Moroccans paid €3 million for rejected EU visas in 2021 appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

Morocco ranked 17th out of top fifty countries in the Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index for the year 2021, after achieving an overall score of 5.17, making it one of the most competitive emerging markets in the world in terms of the best environments for doing business.

The country moved by one by place compared to the last season coinciding with the global health emergency.

The international index used consists of three sub-indicators for evaluating the economies of countries, the first of which is the local services market in which Morocco received a score of 4.59; thus, positioning at 34th place.

The report awarded Morocco a score of 5.00 in the sub-index of best international logistics opportunities, and therefore ranking 15th globally. As for the best countries in doing business, Morocco obtained a score of 6.70, surpassing 41 countries in the sub-index.

The index, released this year in its 12th annual edition, ranks 50 countries according to factors that enhance their attractiveness for logistical service providers, freight forwarders, airlines, and distributors.

The United Arab Emirates topped the ranking of the MENA region after ranking fourth worldwide, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, tanking 6th, Qatar ranking 9th, Oman and Bahrain in place 14th and 15th respectively, then Morocco in 17th place.

China, India and Indonesia were also ranked first in terms of domestic logistics services. While China, India and Mexico occupied the first three ranks in international logistics services, as the report showed that Asia, lying in the center of global export industries, continues to dominate the index.

A survey conducted by the Agility Logistics, which included more than 1,200 professionals in the supply chain sector to find out their views on the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, indicated that 44.7% of respondents expect the MENA region to recover in 2021; While 38.9 % predicted that the region’s recovery will not happen until 2022-2024.

Agility Logistics is a global logistics company headquartered in Kuwait, providing freight forwarding, transportation, and supply chain management services to businesses, governments and international institutions all over the world.

The post Morocco Ranks 17th in Emerging Markets Classification appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

Morocco’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport had given an overview of the year 2020 and described it as a rough year for professionals and small entrepreneurs in domains of Culture, Cinema, Youth and Sport, and Media.

He further explained that in order to scaffold these professionals and alleviate the budget of corporate treasury, the economic Vigilance Committee has approved four project contracts in favor of cultural and creative industries, sport halls, Nurseries and written media.

He further added that employees within these four industries who are declared in the National Social Security Fund and who are temporarily out of work will benefit from a financial aid. Concerning the corporate treasury, the minister said that the aids will be in the form of forfeiting payments, postponing it or delaying deadlines as well as delaying the payments of bank loans.

Concerning written media, the minister stressed that it’s worth mentioning that this program contract is an added value to the press support strategy which is going to replace the exceptional aid initiative of 2021 that constitutes of 235M MAD in the year 2020.

Concerning Cultural and Creative industries, the minister announced that a cell will be established for assisting entrepreneurs in creating applications to contribute in the “Intilaqa” program (start-up) in addition to creating tools for investments to cope with certain projects.

According to the recommendations of 2019 debate, a workshop for statistical qualifications has been set up. The opening of the requests of proposals of this strategic study will hold place on February, 18^th; on its part, the private sector will also contribute in the works of the strategic study.

The Economic, Social and Environmental Council has recommended the development of a national cultural and digital proposal. Thus, a digital platform for intangible heritage, performing arts and festivals will be established. Furthermore, a program for supporting music album distribution services over social platforms such as Spotify will be created.

Concerning sport, the ministry picked up the idea proposed by Mustapha Rachid among 168 ideas proposed last August #fikraryadia (sport idea). The idea consists of establishing an electronic platform for the benefit of sport academies. GIZ association has endorsed the project for financing and follow up.

The four program contracts are characterized by the new digital mode which is the base of the Ministry’s yearly strategic plan.

The post Othman El Ferdaous, Morocco 2021: Resilience and Digitization appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.