This meeting, organized jointly by the CGEM and BusinessEurope and focused on the modernization of the Morocco-EU association agreement, was an opportunity for Alj to highlight the role played by Morocco and its various companies in strengthening EU-Africa ties.

"Due to its political stability and its geographical, financial and economic advantages, among others, the Kingdom is now a reliable investment destination with high added value and a recognized hub for Africa," he said.

He recalled that "Moroccan and European companies and businesses share the same challenges, including those related to immigration, climate change and the instability of supply chains."

"They also share the same vision of solutions and opportunities to be seized, namely more trade, more jobs, especially for young people and women and more attention to SMEs, the backbone of our respective economies."

Alj also noted that the modernization of the Morocco-EU Association Agreement offers enormous potential and can be a model for a stronger EU-Africa relationship. "The time for action is now!" he said.

For his part, the president of BusinessEurope, Pierre Gattaz, stressed that "the world has changed since the entry into force of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement and it must be adapted to the commercial realities of the 21st century and the needs of businesses in important areas such as the digital economy."

"To promote the integration of our value chains, we must remove non-tariff barriers and facilitate foreign investment and trade in services in particular," he said, noting that this will be even more important in a context where many European companies seek to diversify their sources of supply.

For his part, Abdou Diop, chairman of the Africa Commission within CGEM, said that thanks to the COVID-19 African countries are increasingly aware of the need to move forward together to foster regional integration, develop industrialization and also promote the 'Made in Africa' label.

He said that this integration will create a kind of dynamic that will accelerate the transformation and make the continent of opportunities a true continent of emergence and transformation.

During this meeting, the panelists presented the benefits of modernizing the Morocco-EU Association Agreement for businesses on both continents, especially in terms of integration of value chains, particularly in light of the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

This free trade area will give access to a market of 1.2 billion consumers and will stimulate investment and create added value and employment towards a sustainable socio-economic growth of the African continent.