Trade logistics and competitiveness in Morocco

 The ministry of equipment and transport and the World Bank published "Trade logistics and competitiveness in Morocco".

June 2006 - Consultative process with a wide variety of actors in the sector resulted in the formulation of an initial diagnostic on the performance of trade logistics in Morocco. The diagnostic was established through :

• Field research with public entities, Moroccan import and export firms and service providers (transporters, shipping agents, banks, transport agents, logistical service providers) which contributed to the identification of exisitng bottlenecks, weaknesses and potential.
• A series of supply chains analysis conducted in several industrial sectors representative of the Moroccan economy (automobile and electronic parts, textiles and clothing, citrus, produce and supermarket distributors) also contributed critical.
• A analysis of training needs and competence in logistics management in the private sector.
• A study on the deployment of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for international trade contributed to refining certain recommendations.

The report Download the report - pdf, in French Forum on logistics

The transport agencies ("offices"), the customs administration and representative organizations from the private sector (such as the Moroccan Association of Exporters and the National Federation of Road Transport) all participated in the working groups.

Key Recommendations
The action plan proposes measures that will help improve Morocco competitiveness on European and global markets, through a seamless and high performance logistics. It will help  Morocco take full advantage of its geographical location, and meet the particular challenges of the economy in the following areas : 

• Facilitation of and support for sectoral reforms
• Adoption of an institutional and regulatory framework
• Development of infrastructure and logistical services

The experience of other countries - in which the Bank has provided support to improvement to international trade logistics -  has demonstrated that it is possible to considerably reduce transit and clearance delays, simplify the implementation of procedures and improve the quality of services.

The competitiveness of business, particularly exporters, has also improved as a result of reduction of inventories and an acceleration of procurement and delivery cycles.

These measures have also had a decisive impact on the perception of the country by international investories and an acceleration of procurement  for whom it is critical to rapidly implement a fully reliable supply chain.

The rapid progress made by the Kingdom of Morocco to facilitate trade in different sectors can also provide useful lessons for other developing countries confronted with similar stakes.

The different domains in which progress has been made include : the modernization of road freight for merchandise; security improvements in the supply chain; generalization of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system; port efficiency, the investment in logistic centers, and the development of competence through training.

With the goal of raising awareness of the relevant actors and in order to strengthen dialogue and dissemination of the report, a debate was launched by the Ministry of Equipment and Transport and the World Bank

This debate aims to raise awareness on the importance of this sector through the organization of a forum on “Logistics, a key factor in competitiveness” on June 21, 2006. The implementation of the future platform will support sustainable dialogue and exchange among all stakeholders.

The goal of the proposed action program is to make trade logistics a real asset to reinforce the competitiveness of the Moroccan economy.

This program is part of the priorities of the World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2005-2009 with the Kingdom of Morocco that particularly focuses on economic growth to respond to the challenges of development in Morocco and contribute to the reduction of poverty.