Bengaluru, November 26, 2021: To strengthen its ties with India, Kingdom of Morocco plans to open its Consulate in Bengaluru, Kingdom of Morocco’s Ambassador to India, Mohamed Maliki announced this here on Friday.
A trade delegation led by Mr Maliki, is on a six-day visit to India, beginning with Bengaluru, to increase bilateral trade between two nations, through its national brand – Morocco Now – that promotes investments and exports, a release said.
Mr Malki told reporters that they have a national plan to increase their presence in India. “We currently have consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata and are working on opening one in Bengaluru. Our aim is to grow together and have India as one of our top 10 partners by 2025,” he said.
Morocco, is the north-westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, hence it is considered as the gateway to Europe and Africa. At present bilateral trade between Morocco and India, currently stands at around US $2.1 billion.
To further boost the bilateral trade between both nations, the Moroccan Ambassador said that multiple visas for a period of one year will be processed within three to five days. “For this purpose, we have outsourced visa services whereby potential investors can apply in cities wherever they are and multiple visas for a period of one year will be processed within three to five days,” he noted.
Announcing major sops to attract industrialists from India, Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development (AMDIE)’s Director General (CEO) Youssef El Bari said that Morocco has set up a vast range of industrial acceleration zones spread across its Kingdom, which offer foreign investors several advantages including total exemption from Corporate Income Tax for the first five years of operations and a fixed 15 per cent for every year that follows.
“Other tax benefits include exemption of professional tax for the first 15 years of consecutive operations, exemption of VAT for operations carried out inside or between industrial acceleration zones and exemption from withholding tax of dividends originating from activities carried out in industrial acceleration zones,” he explained.
Mr Bari said that Morocco will also facilitate foreign exchange transfers abroad for incomes generated by foreign investments made in Morocco, such as dividends and interests generated by shareholders’ loans.
“A special customs regime which allows companies located in industrial acceleration zones to benefit from exemption of all duties, taxes or surcharges on import, circulation, consumption, production or export has also been set up. Our major focus areas of business include automotive, aeronautic, textiles, agri-food, pharmaceutical and outsourcing,” he claimed.
Mr Malki added that Morocco has positioned itself as a leading regional industrial and export platform with the fastest growing automotive cluster in the world.
“We created the brand ‘Morocco Now’ to position Morocco as an investment destination that encourages renewable energies and offers a distinctive value proposition with privileged access to a market of more than 1 billion consumers through the country’s 54 free trade agreements,” he explained.
Mr Malki emphasised that his country is well connected by road, sea and air. Morocco and India have very strong industrial potential and the two countries complement each other.
Mr Bari asserted that Morocco’s major focus areas of business include automotive, aeronautic, textiles, agri-food, pharmaceutical and outsourcing. “The quality of Morocco’s human capital, strong financial backbone and a stable economic and political climate make our country an attractive investment destination,” he said.
According to the release, at least 35 Indian companies have already set up shop in Morocco including Varroc Lighting Systems, Steel Strip Wheels, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Tata Hispano Motors Carrocera, Indian Motors and Sun Pharmaceuticals Morocco. India is the fourth largest trading partner of Morocco and the 13th largest supplier to the country in the first half of 2021.
In Bengaluru, the delegation engaged in a series of meetings with Karnataka government officials, industrialists and other professionals. ‘Morocco Now’ road shows will also be held in Mumbai and New Delhi with a series of similar meetings in these cities as well, the statement added.
