Publications /
Policy Paper

Back
Using Foreign Direct Investment to Upgrade and Diversify Exports from Morocco: Opportunities and Challenges in Comparative Perspective
Authors
Theodore H. Moran
April 7, 2016

Developing countries that manage to upgrade and diversify their export profile grow more rapidly and achieve greater welfare gains than countries that simply export larger volumes of what they have traditionally produced.

This discussion paper examines what market imperfections and other impediments make the task of using FDI for structural transformation so difficult. Drawing on country case studies from Malaysia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, and South Africa, the paper identifies best practices for making progress, on the one hand, and examining impediments that lead to failure, on the other.

This study has been prepared to serve as the basis for a workshop at which on-the-ground practitioners in Morocco can view their country’s efforts at structural transformation in light of similar experiences elsewhere. The objective is to highlight accomplishments and raise questions about future obstacles for Morocco’s aerospace sector, for the automotive cluster in Tangier Med, for OCP, and for investment promotion via the Moroccan Agency in Charge of Promoting Foreign Direct Investment .

RELATED CONTENT

  • November 25, 2022
    Le présent travail s’intéresse à la question de l’accompagnement et la réintégration des travailleuses marocaines saisonnières en Espagne. Il met en avance l’existence de déficits à plusieurs niveaux. Des plus importants sont : une inclusion financière et un accompagnement en matière de renforcement de l’employabilité ; un accompagnement en matière d’alphabétisation financière ; un accompagnement en matière de création, et post-création, d'activités génératrices de revenus ; un acco ...
  • November 24, 2022
    This chapter was originally published in the book "Africa–Europe Cooperation and Digital Transformation", co-edited by Chux Daniels, Benedikt Erfoth, and Chloe Teevan Since the mid-2010s, North African countries have been pursuing what some observers have called a “return to Africa” (Dworkin, 2020). Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia have attempted to position themselves as major components of Europe- Mediterranean-Africa infrastructure and supply chains corridors (Tanchum, 2020). The thr ...
  • November 22, 2022
      يعتمد مشروع قانون المالية لسنة 2023 أولويات يمكن تلخيصها في أربعة محاور تهم "ترسيخ ركائز الدولة الاجتماعية، وإنعاش الاقتصاد الوطني من خلال دعم الاستثمار، وتكريس العدالة المجالية، واستعادة الهوامش المالية من أجل ضمان استدامة الإصلاحات". ونظرا لأهمية النظام الضريبي في تحقيق الانتعاش ا...
  • Authors
    November 22, 2022
    The US dollar has risen dramatically in value against other currencies recently. Three channels through which factors affecting bilateral exchange rates operate have been pulling up the U.S. dollar: yield differentials, liquidity differentials, and growth differentials. The strong appreciation of the US dollar against other currencies recently reinforced the contractionary pressures present in the global economy. Ultimately, the “turn” or “pivot” of the dollar will most likely occur ...
  • Authors
    November 17, 2022
    Africa is acutely affected by the ongoing global democratic recession. In 2020, a military coup took place in Mali. In 2021, four African countries – Chad, Mali, Guinea, and Sudan - experienced military takeovers. Thus far, in 2022, two coups have occurred in Burkina Faso and an attempted one in Guinea Bissau. Yet polling data and activism on the ground shows African youth believe in and are prepared to fight for democracy. ...
  • Authors
    November 17, 2022
    This piece examines the role of labor and religious movements in the face of the “informalization” of the African economy. How does the growth of an informal sector set back class formation and labor activism? How will the rise of economic networks outside formal economic and political channels affect state capacity? Can labor unions develop organizational independence if the labor market is segmented with a growing number of informal workers? What happens when labor market “insider ...
  • Authors
    Inácio F. Araújo
    Ademir Rocha
    Karina Simone Sass
    November 16, 2022
    This publication was originally published in rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com   The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, scaled up the ongoing conflict in Donbas beyond its regional borders, hindering and halting different aspects of economic life. Considering the internal geography of Ukraine's economic structure, the damage to physical infrastructure and supply chain disruption are likely to propagate to other parts of the country through an intricate plot of pro ...