Moroccan business operators explore ways to strengthen trade, investment ties with Switzerland

A delegation of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), led by its president, Chakib Alj, conducted, March 21 to 24, a working mission in Switzerland to explore ways to strengthen trade and investment links between Morocco and the Swiss Confederation.

During this visit, the delegation held a series of meetings with representatives of various Swiss economic organizations, including Christoph Maeder, president of EconomieSuisse, the CGEM’s counterpart organization, Stefan Barny, director of the Global Network of Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Swiss export and investment promotion agency, Michel Rheinegger, director of the Africa-Switzerland Business Circle, and Vincent Subilia, president of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation said in a statement.

Discussions focused on the complementarities between the Moroccan and Swiss economies, on the opportunities that the Kingdom presents to investors, especially as a gateway to the African continent, as well as on the sectors of common interest in which Moroccan and Swiss companies could co-invest, share their know-how and operate a technology transfer. Moroccan sectoral economic missions to Switzerland and vice versa will be held in the coming months, the statement added.

The CGEM mission in Switzerland was marked by the organization, in Lausanne, of a meeting with members of the Association of Executives of Moroccan Origin in Switzerland (ACOMS), an opportunity to exchange views with these high-potential Moroccans ready to actively contribute to the socio-economic development of their country by initiating projects with high added value.

The meeting discussed several topics such as the development of skills as a lever for growth and the Royal Project of the Investment Charter which provides entrepreneurs with a series of incentives to promote private investment and job creation in Morocco.

According to figures from the Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Protection, trade between the two countries reached 778 million Swiss francs in 2022, an increase of 18.9% compared to 2021.

After recording a value of 347 million Swiss francs in 2021, Swiss exports to Morocco reached a value of 414 million francs in 2022, posting an increase of 19.3%, reports the Office. As for Moroccan exports to Switzerland, they rose from 307 million Swiss francs in 2021 to 364 million in 2022, an increase of 18.6%.