Morocco demands amending FTA with Turkey, MB defends Turkish interests

Doaa Emam

Morocco has finally convinced Turkey to review a list of Moroccan complaints on a free trade agreement between the countries, said the Moroccan trade minister.

The Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade, Moulay Hafid El-Alamy has announced in a parliament session that his country has informed Ankara on its losses over an imbalance in the agreement’s clauses.

The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Justice and Development Party, as a result, began defending the Turkish interests in the country. Idriss Azami, member of the party, said Morocco is losing in all of its free trade agreements and not just with Turkey.

The remarks were made despite that Elalamy explained a comprehensive study of all the free trade agreements concluded by Morocco showed a deficit in its trade with three main partners, namely Europe, the US and Turkey.

He pointed out, however, that the deficit caused by the Moroccan-Turkish free trade deal comes amid a lack in Turkish investments in Morocco.

El-Alamy shared negative outcomes resulting from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Turkey which came into effect in 2006, two years after the two countries signed the deal.

It is no longer surprising that the Muslim Brotherhood in Morocco would protest in support of the Turkish Justice and Development party; During the crisis that erupted between Turkey and the United States, according to which the United States imposed sanctions on Ankara, the Moroccan Brotherhood was quick to launch campaigns that encouraged shopping from Turkish shops and supporting the Turkish economy, which stood on the verge of collapse.

In 2018, the African nation recorded a trade deficit of MAD18 billion (about $ 1.8 billion) in its trade relations with Turkey.

Morocco has been threatening to walk out of the agreement since last year over complaints that while Turkish products have flooded into Moroccan markets as a result of the deal. Ankara continued to impose rigid obstacles before Turkey-bound Moroccan products.

El-Alamy said last month that his country could not keep the agreement with Turkey.

Ankara and Rabat agreed to review the terms of their current free trade agreement for “more balanced, more important and good quality” trade, according to the joint statement issued after the countries’ delegations met that day.

Turkish exports to Morocco grew 16 percent in 2018, reaching $2.3 billion, while the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to $3 billion last year.