Israel and Morocco Sign First Economic Agreement

The Finance Ministry has signed a deal on cooperation in the fields of investment and finance with Morocco’s Finance and Economy Ministry.

Chief Economist Shira Greenberg signed the agreement while taking part in the Israeli delegation to Rabat to promote bilateral ties following the normalization accord on Tuesday night.

Within the framework of the accord, the two countries agreed on several fields of economic cooperation, including a bilateral effort to lower investment barriers, increase cooperation, and exchange information in the fields of financial regulation, the prevention of money laundering and the funding of terrorism, as well as the promotion of several international conventions to benefit activity in the private sector.

Israel and Morocco also agreed to establish a joint economic team and outlined agreements to be signed between the countries’ respective ministries and financial regulators.

In a statement Finance Minister Yisrael Katz said, “For years, we had ties with Morocco, and now those ties will simply continue to grow stronger. This is an important step for Israel’s economy. After years of practical isolation from the economies around us, the government and the Finance Ministry are breaking through barriers and paving new paths for the Israeli market. This is another step toward turning Israel from an island economy into a leading regional economic center, with economic and trade ties throughout the Middle East.”

Greenberg said, “Morocco has joined a series of countries in the region with whom we have signed agreements in the field of investment and finance.” She said the agreements would “contribute to increasing Israel and the region’s potential for growth. We believe that there is potential to increase trade with Morocco by around half a billion dollars a year. The signing of the agreement last night is the first necessary and important step in promoting the realization of this potential.”

Following a telephone call between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and King Mohammed VI last week, a delegation from Rabat is set to arrive in Israel on Monday to further advance bilateral ties.