Remarks by Mr. Robert P. Jackson
Deputy Chief of Mission
Embassy of the United States of America in Rabat
Attijariwafa – ExImBank Conference
June 17, 2008

Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends,

Thank you for inviting me to be here with you this morning.

I am delighted to be able to share several highlights concerning the positive trends in bilateral trade between the United States and Morocco.

While there is much debate about the different trade figures and the true benefits of liberalized trade, here’s what we have observed to be certain from a commercial, economic, and financial perspective.
I know that many Moroccans wonder if the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Morocco has benefited Morocco, and my answer is an unqualified “Yes.”  We see positive results in two areas in particular:  trade and investment.

In the first two years since the implementation of the, we witnessed a 44 per cent growth in 2006, and a 39.5 per cent growth in 2007 to reach $1.9 billion dollars.  For 2006 and 2007 together Moroccan exports to the United States climbed more than 36 per cent in spite of the deterioration in the exchange rate.

As for investment, the FTA has helped attract a growing number of U.S. business and investment across a broad array of industrial sectors including:  Octogone’s multi-million dollar investment in the tourism sector, Shoeb TGI Friday’s multi- million dollar investment in the restaurant franchise sector, Delphi’s multi- million dollar investment in the automotive sector, Minco Aviation Electronics’ multi-million dollar investment in the aviation/hi tech sector, Colony Capital’s billion-dollar investment in the tourism sector, Emerging Capital Partners and Truffle Capital’s 100% new investment of millions in the Compagnie Miniere de Touissit in the mining sector, and just his past May, Tessera, the leading provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry based in San Jose (Silicon Valley) California’s partnership with the local firm MedZ to transfer technology and manufacture locally. 
We also know that companies are expanding their investment in Morocco, for example last year International Paper made an additional multi-million dollar investment in the packaging sector, Fruit of the Loom made a multi-million dollar increase to existing investment in the textile sector, Procter and Gamble made a multi-million dollar increase to existing investment in the consumer goods sector, and Dell, Intel, Microsoft and Cisco also expanded their commitment to developing the Moroccan market and enhancing education and training programs in the Kingdom.

Thus, I can declare without hesitation that the FTA had a direct impact on improving the environment and attracting U.S. business in Morocco. 

We continue to support on-going FTA implementation and technical assistance in order to ensure that the benefits of this important agreement reach a broader population in Morocco.

To note a few examples, over the last year we have supported a sourcing trade mission of Moroccan textile companies to the U.S., Rules of Origin seminars last June in several cities around the Kingdom, a Customs and Border Protection Workshop last September, a Technology Transfer Forum in January, an Apparel Supply Chain Technical Assistance Seminar in February, and Agricultural Trade and Investment Mission in April, an Investor-State Arbitration Seminar in April, and technical assistance on a Trade Statistics Reconciliation project.

The reforms that the Government of Morocco has made also secured a place among the leading nations participating in the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s rural development program.

Our USAID Mission and Commercial, Agricultural and Economic Sections have been engaged perhaps with some of you here today on advancing our support on Intellectual Property Rights, Transshipment, and Standards.

There is, nevertheless, more that work that we can and should be doing.

Today’s conference co-sponsored by Attijariwafa and the U.S. Export Import bank is another important element that builds on our efforts to support the FTA.

I hope that you will have the opportunity this morning to learn how these banks can help you identify new business opportunity and more importantly how to finance the transactions. 

Before I close, I would like to once again thank the organizers of this event, Attijariwafa Bank and the U.S. ExImBank.

Thank you for your attention.