KUWAIT/RABAT: Morocco’s King Muhammad is to make a rare official tour of Gulf countries later this year as his cash-strapped government seeks alternatives to its crisis-hit European trade partners.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah told Reuters the monarch would discuss investment and bilateral relations. “He is going on a tour in the Gulf countries,” said Jarallah, noting that the king was expected to visit Kuwait in October or November.
The monarch will also travel to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, Jarallah said.
A tour of fellow Gulf monarchies by King Mohammed would be important diplomatically and financially for Morocco, which is ruled by the Arab world’s longest-serving dynasty but lacks oil riches.
Morocco’s $90-billion economy is heavily exposed to the euro zone, whose troubles have hit tourism revenues, migrant remittances and foreign investment this year.
The king urged his government in July to tap financing from Gulf sovereign wealth funds in what was widely seen as an instruction to give Gulf investors more access to investment opportunities traditionally dominated by European and local firms.
An invitation last year for Arab kingdoms Morocco and Jordan to join the Gulf Cooperation Council signaled that monarchies in the region were trying to strengthen links in the face of the “Arab Spring” uprisings.
“It will be a roadshow ... an opportunity to market fresh investment opportunities Moroccan has to offer,” said an official Moroccan source.
Rabat hopes Gulf institutional investors will buy heavily into a $1-billion-plus sovereign bond later this year. King Muhammad is also expected to meet firms interested in the planned sale by Vivendi of its majority stake in Maroc Telecom.
Morocco is drafting a new banking law that should open the door to Islamic lenders. Rabat may also discuss partnerships between its state-run airline Royal Air Maroc and a major Gulf airline, after low-cost carriers have reduced their business in Morocco due to lower European demand.
