The agreement comes as part of the implementation of normalized ties between the two countries as part of the United States-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.
By Erin Viner
Jerusalem is targeting annual trade volume of $500 million with Rabat – up from $131 million currently – as both nations seek to deepen cooperation, said Israeli Economy Minister Orna Barbivai.
She made the statement following talks in Rabat yesterday with Moroccan Industry and Trade Minister Ryad Mezzour, with whom she signed the trade and investment cooperation deal.
Terms of the agreement include facilitation of trade and investments in the aerospace, automobile, agri-food, textile and pharmaceutical industries in particular, said Minister Mezzour. He added that Morocco is also looking forward to cooperating with Israel in fields related to industrial research and development, and the establishment of industrial zones.
Minister Barbivai and her Moroccan counterpart Nadia Fettah Alaoui also discussed future agreements on investment incentives, customs cooperation and double taxation, said the North African nation’s Economy and Finance Ministry in a statement.
The Israeli Economy Minister’s visit to Morocco comes 3 months after Jerusalem and Rabat signed a groundbreaking defense pact.
Morocco became the 6th Arab League nation to normalize relations with Israel on 22 December 2020, following similar pacts with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September and Sudan in October 2020. The first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel was Egypt in 1979, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1994.