Editing Economy of Morocco (section)

==Investment==
{{Main|Investment in Morocco}}
[[Image:MoroccoRemittances.jpg|thumb|350px|A graph by the [[World Bank]] showing an increase in remittances sent by overseas Moroccans.]]
Morocco has become an attractive destination for European investors thanks to its relocation sites "Casashore" and "Rabatshore", and to the very rapid cost escalation in Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_an_attractiv/view |title=Home: Economy |access-date=28 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110110025451/http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_an_attractiv/view |archive-date=10 January 2011}}</ref> The [[Information technology in Morocco#Offshoring|offshoring sector]] in Morocco is of great importance as it creates high-level jobs that are generally accompanied by an influx of Moroccan immigrants. Noting however that human resources remain the major concern for companies seeking to gain a foothold in Morocco. In this regard, it has been deemed an important decision of the Moroccan government to accelerate training in the required disciplines.

In a bid to promote foreign investments, Morocco in 2007 adopted a series of measures and legal provisions to simplify procedures and secure appropriate conditions for projects launching and completing. Foreign trade minister, Abdellatif Maazouz cited that these measures include financial incentives and tax exemptions provided for in the investment code and the regional investment centres established to accompany projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_set_to_impro/view |title=Home: Economy |access-date=28 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20101120183736/http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/economy/morocco_set_to_impro/view |archive-date=20 November 2010}}</ref>
These measures combined with actions carried out by the Hassan II Fund for Development increased foreign investments in Morocco by $544.7 million in 2007. 20% of these investments came from Islamic countries.

Moroccan officials have heralded a significant increase in the amount of money [[Moroccan diaspora|Moroccan expatriates]] are sending home. Government efforts are underway to encourage Moroccans living abroad to increase their investments at home, and to allay concerns about bureaucracy and corruption. With money sent home by [[Moroccan diaspora|Moroccan migrants]] reaching $5.7 billion in 2007, Morocco came in second, behind [[Egypt]], on the recent [[World Bank]] list of the top 10 MENA remittance recipient countries. Neighbouring [[Algeria]] ($2.9 billion) came in at number five. According to the World Bank, remittances constituted 6.4% of GDP in Morocco in 2020 and amounted to more than $7.4 billion.<ref name="Edward Hugh">{{cite web|url=http://moroccoeconomywatch.blogspot.com/|title=Morocco Economy Watch|author=Edward Hugh|access-date=11 June 2015|archive-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616161424/http://moroccoeconomywatch.blogspot.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances from Moroccans residing abroad continued in an upward trend.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kasraoui|first=Safaa|title=Morocco 2nd Country To Receive Remittances in Arab Region in 2020|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/09/344653/morocco-2nd-country-to-receive-remittances-in-arab-region-in-2020|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-07|website=Morocco World News|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930192726/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/09/344653/morocco-2nd-country-to-receive-remittances-in-arab-region-in-2020 |archive-date=30 September 2021 }}</ref>

The European Investment Bank started making investments in Morocco in 1979, and has since invested €9.6 billion since then, including €2.5 billion since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Helping Morocco unlock €300 million in public investment |url=https://www.eib.org/en/stories/morocco-public-investment |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=European Investment Bank |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Morocco and the EIB |url=https://www.eib.org/enmorocco |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=European Investment Bank |language=en}}</ref>

===Foreign direct investment===
Foreign Direct Investments in Morocco grew to $2.57 billion in 2007 from $2.4 billion a year earlier to position the country in the fourth rank in [[Africa]] among FDI recipients, according to the [[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box1/fdis_in_morocco_rise/view |title=Home: Sections |access-date=28 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110110025724/http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/box1/fdis_in_morocco_rise/view |archive-date=10 January 2011}}</ref> Although other studies have shown much higher figures.
Expectations for 2008 were promising noting that 72 projects were approved for a global amount of $9.28 billion. These were due to open 40,023 direct and stable job opportunities. However, keeping with the global trend, FDI dropped 29% to €2.4 billion in 2008,<ref name="ReferenceB"/> the first decline since 2004.

While the recovery of pre-crisis levels very much hinges on the health of the global economy, Morocco has made steps towards becoming a more attractive FDI destination, according to the World Bank's Doing Business 2010 report, ranking second in North African neighbours. The majority of FDI continues to derive from the EU, specifically France. Morocco is also a source of foreign investments. In 2007, it has injected $652 million in projects abroad, which put Morocco in the third position in [[Africa]].

===Investment by country===
Most of the [[Foreign direct investment|FDI]]s injected in Morocco came from the [[European Union]] with [[France]], the major economic partner of the [[North Africa]]n kingdom, topping the list with investments worth $1.86 billion, followed by [[Spain]] ($783 million), the report said.
The influx of European countries in Morocco's FDI represents 73.5% of the global amount received in 2007. 19.3% of the investments came from [[Arab States|Arab countries]], whose share in Morocco's FDI showed a marked rise, as they only represented 9.9% of the entire FDIs in 2006. A number of Arab countries, mainly from the [[Persian Gulf]] region are involved in large-scale projects in Morocco, including the giant Tanger Med port on the Mediterranean. Morocco remains the preferred destination of foreign investors in the [[Maghreb]] region ([[Algeria]], [[Libya]], [[Mauritania]], Morocco and [[Tunisia]]), with a total of $13.6 billion between 2001 and 2007, which puts it largely on the top of the list.

===Investment by sector===
In terms of sectors, tourism has the biggest share of investment with $1.55 billion, that is 33% of the total FDIs, followed by the real estate sector and the industrial sector, with respectively $930 million and $374 million. [[Moroccan diaspora|Moroccan expatriates']] share of the [[Foreign direct investment|FDI]] stood at $92 million in 2007, up from $57 million in 2006, and they touch mainly the sectors of real estate, tourism and catering, according to the report.