Approximately 50 Brazilian deputies and senators have advocated for a strengthening of the Brazil-Morocco strategic partnership, expressing satisfaction with the remarkable development of relations between the two countries on both political and economic fronts.
This position was expressed through a motion signed by 37 senators and 14 federal deputies and addressed to the Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira.
The entire Brazilian political spectrum supported this motion, notably the leaders of the majority in both Houses of Congress, namely Senator Jacques Wagner and Deputy Carlos Bacelar.
“We are convinced that the time is ripe to transform the relationship between our two countries into a multifaceted strategic partnership, which should be at the forefront of a new geo-economic correlation between the two shores of the South Atlantic, serving as a model for the new ambition that Brazil aims to implement with Africa,” the motion states.
The signatories assert that the call for a consolidated strategic partnership with the Kingdom is justified by Morocco’s competitive position in international maritime and air logistics, based on the promotion of a complex network of free trade agreements. They also noted that Morocco is increasingly attractive for international investments, particularly in the automotive, aerospace, and renewable energy sectors.
This dynamism of the Kingdom is also mirrored in the diplomatic domain–according to the signatories of the motion–which was initiated by the Brazil-Morocco friendship group in the Brazilian Congress and is overseen by Senator Hiran Gonçalves. Incidentally, Morocco has hosted several international events, including COP22 in 2016, the Alliance of Civilizations in 2022, and the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in 2023.
In addition to pointing out that Morocco will welcome over 13 million tourists this year, the signatories called to light that Morocco–along with Spain and Portugal–will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
The motion went on to say that the volume of bilateral trade between Brazil and Morocco in 2022 exceeded 3 billion dollars, which is double the amount of trade between the two countries recorded in 2017.
The document elaborated that multiple Brazilian private defense contractors are negotiating financially lucrative projects with Morocco, as the Kingdom’s largest phosphate and fertilizer processing company, OCP Group, has committed to building fertilizer plants in northern Brazil.
The Brazilian aeronautical construction company Embraer is also negotiating ambitious contracts with Moroccan airlines, and the Moroccan company Green Energy Park (GEP) signed a letter of intent with the state of Piaui (northeast) to build a green hydrogen park, with an investment of 50 billion reals to initially produce 5 GW of green ammonia per year.
Morocco’s carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is also preparing to resume the Casablanca-Sao Paulo route, and the Moroccan Tourism Office (ONMT) will open a commercial office in Sao Paulo in January, 2024, which promises to increase bidirectional tourist flow.
The legal framework between the two countries is rapidly developing to cover key sectors such as national defense, investment support, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, customs cooperation, and preferred taxation status.
Similarly, technical cooperation between Brazil and Morocco covers vital areas such as climate, oceanography, green hydrogen, e-government, and agricultural research.
In addressing the future of this partnership between Morocco and Brazil, the signatories of the motion believe that it should be based on the food security benchmark–as Brazilian exports of agricultural products exceeded 1.2 billion dollars last year–double that of the previous year.
Regarding maritime connectivity, Tanger-Med port is positioned as a highly competitive logistics hub for the Brazilian agribusiness industry. It offers a logistics platform connected to 183 ports worldwide, with a processing capacity of nine million tons.
For the Morocco-Brazil-Africa synergy, Morocco has developed a multifaceted strategy in Africa. In addition to the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline, food security occupies a primary focus of Morocco’s African policy, thanks to the investments of the OCP in several African countries.
The South Atlantic, the geopolitical space previously alluded to, offers boundless commercial, logistical, and economic opportunities. In this respect, Brazil and Morocco–with coastlines of 7,400 km and 2,900 km respectively–have the potential to promote their own strategic identity for this region, addressing simultaneously issues of security, maritime connectivity, ocean economy, and fisheries sustainability.