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Arab investments in Morocco declining for third year in row

May 24, 2019 at 2:34 am

Flag of Morocco, on 8 May 2019 [Kristin Harvey/Flickr]

Direct Arab investments in Morocco declined by 10.5 per cent during 2018, for the third year in a row.

The share of Arab investments in total foreign direct investment flows in Morocco declined to 12.6 per cent in 2018, compared to 30 per cent in 2015.

Omit, international foreign direct investment in Morocco amounted to 38 per cent in the same period.

Foreign direct investments in Morocco in 2018 amounted to 34 billion dirhams, compared to 26 billion in 2017 and 21 billion in 2016.

The UAE remained the leading Arab investor in Morocco during 2018, contributing 65 per cent of total according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

The investments of both UAE and Qatar increased by 9.23 per cent during 2019, while the investments from the rest of the Arab countries declined

However, the UAE’s direct investment income in Morocco in 2018 was 41.4 per cent lower than in 2015.

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Saudi Arabia’s direct investments in Morocco declined by 68.5 per cent in 2018, compared to 2017, and by 78 per cent compared to 2015.

Saudi Arabia’s share of the total Arab investment in Morocco dropped to 8.5 per cent and fell from the second to the third rank.

Direct Lebanese investment in Morocco has also declined by 89 per cent in 2018, compared to 2017.

Jordan’s direct investments also declined by 76 per cent, Egypt by 46 per cent, Kuwait by 41.5 per cent, Oman by 36 per cent, Bahrain by 10.7 per cent and Tunisia by 10.5 per cent.

Ireland managed to top the list of countries with the largest foreign direct investment in Morocco, out doing France.

Denmark ranked third, followed by the UAE, US, Spain and Japan respectively.

Britain ranked ninth, followed by Qatar, then Malta.

The financial and insurance sector accounted for the largest share of these foreign direct investments, followed by the real estate sector, then the manufacturing industry.