Moroccan Economic Markets and Structures
From International Business Wiki
Tourism Economy.
Developing tourism with “Plan Azur”
Tourism is the fastest growing economy of Morocco despite the fear that has engendered September 11th. The number of tourists has increased by 45% from 1996 and the country expects 10 millions of tourists a year by 2010. Tourism sector increases so rapidly that it had reached an accommodation saturation point. But King Mohammed VI has announced his “Plan Azur” which will help tourism development process. Morocco plans on increasing its hotels room capacity by 6000 new beds in 2008, 8000 in 2009 until attaining 20 000 new beds annually in a close future. With the “Plan Azur” tourism will reach 20% of Moroccan GDP by 2010. It is a development based institutional, financial, real estate and fiscal dimensions. Morocco has selected new ports of development to attract new tourism. Among the new sites selected there are Saida, Plage blanche, Mogador, El Haouzia, Khemis Sahel and Taghazout. The government will take responsibilities to bring in water, electricity supply, roads to the airports, infrastructures, and telecommunication networks.Each new site will be a new pole of sustainable development which will create 15 000 direct jobs and 75 000 indirect jobs. In the end Plan Azur plans on creating 600 000 new jobs. But Morocco already has natural and historical tourists’ attraction. It is certainly one of the most diverse ecology in the world. In the same country, one can go skiing on the Atlas Mountain or enjoy the burning sun in the Sahara desert. There are also 3500 km of coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean where it is frequent to witness whales swimming next to the coasts. Tourists can be breath taken while discovering the numerous imperial cities of Fez, Marrakech, Rabat or Meknes. The king’s vision for 2010 is to enhance those natural sites and the lives and jobs of the inhabitants by contributing financial and infrastructures support in order to bring more tourists to discover Moroccan natural wonders for themselves. The government counts also on private investors to bring in new funds to develop tourism. Morocco gives many incentives to private investors. All turnover issued in foreign currency by hotel operators is tax exempted the first five years and 50% tax discounted thereafter. The government issues 50% grants for buying land if it is used for development and it gives loans to renovate old hotels. In order to have adequate employees in the tourism industry, Morocco also fund training to hotel staff. Morocco tourism development plan seems ambitious, but Morocco has proven that it is keeping up with it and so far almost all planed projects have been terminated on schedule.
The Econmist, web source .Retrieved on 10/29/07
http://www.economist.com/countries/Morocco/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Economic%20Structure
African Business # 281 N 2002 , WN 0230505015020, retrieved on the web on 10/23/07 Copyright 1982-2002 The H.W Wilson Company.
Agriculture counts for 17.3% of morocco’s total GDP and employs about 4.43 million people, which is about 40% of the country’s total labor force. Morocco’s major agriculture productions include, but not limited to: Fish, Barley, Wheat, Citrus, Cannabis, Vegetables, Olives, almonds and livestock (1). Since almost 90% of the country’s farm lands are not irrigated and depend on rainfall, the horticultural production varies widely from one year to another depending on the rain index, especially in the three main cereal crops: hard wheat, soft wheat and barley, which count for about 70% of the countries horticulture production. About half of the three major crops production is farmed in (arid and semi-arid) zones, with average annual rainfall below 450 millimeters(2). Morocco exports agricultural goods to France, Spain, UK, Italy, Japan and India. Exports include, but not limited to, Fish, Fruits and vegetables. The fishing industry alone contributes to the country over $600 million each year, which counts for 45% of Morocco’s agricultural export and 8% of total export. Japan is morocco’s main fish buyer. With over 100,000 workers and with an estimated total catch of 1,084,638 MT in 2001 The Moroccan fishing industry ranks on top of the whole Africa fishing industry (3). Morocco is considered one of the world leader producers of Cannabis, which gets processed into hashish. About 800,000 farmers farming more than estimated 134,000 hectares in the five northern provinces, in 2003 Morocco produced an estimated 47,000 metric tons of cannabis which could be processed into 3,080 metric tons of Hashish. The European market is the main customer of both goods contributing an estimated $12 billion a year after trafficking, farmers only receive about $214 million. Cannabis counts for 0.57% of Morocco’s whole GDP.(4) Morocco local market consumes many of the country’s agriculture production like vegetables, olives and life stock. About 6.000 tons in kernels produced every year gets consumed only locally. Morocco also produces 1.7% of the whole world almond production (5).
by: omar khalil Work cited: 1-https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html#Econ 2-http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/morspain.htm 3- http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5337E/x5337e02.htm 4- http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2003/unisnar826.html 5-http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5337E/x5337e02.htm
[edit] Private Consumption:
Morocco has long been known as a beautiful waterfront getaway bordering the North Atlantic and the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea. Most people don’t realize that it is a rapidly growing country with many economic benefits. Due to major improvement in macroeconomic performance the growth rate in Morocco has risen at a steady six percent over the past seven years. With this growth comes an increase in the overall income levels of Moroccans. With a young population, Morocco has great opportunities for expansion. In the past few years it has been a major eye catcher for companies seeking to invest. The average Moroccan brings home about forty U.S. dollars per month, allowing manufacturers to come in and pay a low salary for the production of their goods or services. Two main problems that are hindering Morocco’s true potential are low productivity in labor markets and inflexibility in the work force. These imperfections in the economy will surely slow the long-term growth rate and limit their true potential. Uneven income distribution limits the size of the markets. For an average Moroccan accumulating forty U.S. dollars per month, there isn’t much variety in their purchases. The major demand is for basic consumer and electronic goods rather than specialty items. The wealthy minority is the only group that is concerned for automobiles and other unique items. Due to the poverty in Morocco price controls on bread and fuel are enforced. With price controls comes a drawback in expanding the country. The attractiveness to investors trying to import goods is irritable due to the high tariffs. This won’t last forever because of the recent Free Trade Agreements Morocco has made with other countries such as the United States. Even with the majority of the country bringing home an insufficient amount of money, they have a very sophisticated market. Brand names are an important aspect of their market because of such a young population. Moroccan’s main purchasing of items comes from retail stores; a fast growing section of the economy. Both local and international, Morocco is finding countries such as Spain and France having a long-term presence in the retail market. Due to the beautiful scenery, tourism is becoming popular in the major city of Marrakech. Celebrities come from all over the world to stay in the place they call “the ancient pink city”. Just as people from Northeast America come to Florida to stay in the winter, Europeans are finding Morocco to be that short flight getaway to beautiful surroundings. David Beckham and his wife were recently spotted in Marrakech on a shopping spree of fifty thousand dollars in unique clothing stores. Although clothing is very fashionable in Morocco, the main consumption is convenience goods. The market is high price sensitive, consisting of high volume of sales with low margins. It is a country with an extreme amount of potential and a bright future ahead of them. Once average income rises and the price controls are lifted, Morocco will find that people will consume and purchase more expensive items, further leading to greater investment opportunities.
[1]EIU ViewsWire. New York: Sep 1, 2006. http://ucfproxy.fcla.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/pqdweb?did=1210915641&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=20176&RQT=309&VName=PQD [2]EIU ViewsWire. New York: Jun 1, 2007. http://ucfproxy.fcla.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/pqdweb?did=1298670311&sid=7&Fmt=3&clientId=20176&RQT=309&VName=PQD [3]EIU ViewsWire. New York: May 17, 2007. http://ucfproxy.fcla.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ucfproxy.fcla.edu/pqdweb?did=1281891231&sid=7&Fmt=3&clientId=20176&RQT=309&VName=PQD
