Seoul & Rabat Step up Cooperation in Strategic Sectors

Morocco and South Korea have agreed to enhance further their cooperation ties in the fields of higher education, renewable energy, automobile and investment.

Six agreements were sealed during the work visit paid to Morocco by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon who met in Rabat his Moroccan peer Saad-Eddine El Othmani and attended the Morocco-Korea business forum convened in Casablanca.

The two countries agreed to set up R&D platforms on “green & smart building” and “smart microgrids”. Seoul also pledged to set up an automotive training institute in Casablanca to share its experience with Morocco in this highly competitive sector.

South Korea and Morocco have signed respectively 52 and 55 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Despite their huge potentials, trade exchanges between the two countries remain below expectations, not exceeding $660 million in 2017.

Korea is Morocco’s 20th trade partner and 16th investor. Major South Korean companies operating in the North African Kingdom include LG, Samsung, Daihatsu, Hyundai and Kia.

Last year, Korea invested $43.7 billion worldwide but only 1 pc of this amount was injected in Morocco. To reverse this trend, the two countries pledged to explore all joint business opportunities, focusing on car industry, IT sector, renewable energies, water resource management and triangular cooperation as Morocco is the second investor in Africa.