TANGER MED TALKS: FACILITATION OF PROCEDURES: TO ACCELERATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOROCCO’S AGRI-BUSINESS EXPORTS

Tanger Med organised on 09 July 2020 a High Level Talk under the theme “Facilitation of Procedures: to accelerate the development of Morocco’s agri-business exports” in partnership with all the key actors of the sector: TANGER MED, MOROCCO FOODEX, ONSSA, CUSTOMS, Agricultural Export Producers, Transport and Logistics Professionals.

This virtual conference is part of the effort to support, digitize and facilitate Moroccan exports, in this case agricultural and agro-food exports.

In his intervention, Ahmed Bennis, Development Director of Tanger Med recalled the importance of the services offered by Tanger Med for the facilitation of Moroccan agro-business exports, in particular an infrastructure dedicated to export, a refrigeration unit for logistics operations, a multimodality of ro-ro and maritime transport and a maritime connectivity to more than 180 ports and 70 countries.  Moreover, he recalled the commitment of Tanger Med in a continuous digitization process for a better efficiency and management of its activities, as well as for the continuous improvement of services rendered to customers.

He also recalled that since January 2020, Tanger Med has implemented a dematerialized solution for the export procedure of agro-food products from the packaging stations throughout the Kingdom, in partnership with MOROCCO FOODEX, ONSSA and the Customs Administration.

During the conference, Abir Lemssefer, Managing Director of Morocco Foodex, stressed the importance of the agro-business sector and confirmed the high export potential of Moroccan agriculture, as described by world leaders. She highlighted the achievements of the sector during the covid crisis, as well as its future ambitions. These ambitions are legitimate and supported by concrete achievements in the field and key measures put in place by Foodex, Tanger Med and other institutional players such as the Customs and ONSSA to support farmers, digitise processes and make them faster, more transparent and reliable.

Osama Abughoush, Managing Director of Delmonte, gave an overview of the sector, highlighting the efforts made at the Moroccan level both from an agricultural point of view as well as infrastructure and financial services. He closed his presentation by announcing that Delmonte Morocco, a Joint Venture with the Rahal Group (the only JV of the Group in the world), plans to invest in an International Hub for Agricultural Sourcing and Export here in Morocco, giving Moroccan farmers, large and small, the benefit of an important international demand justified by the long-term presence of the group in more than 100 countries. Reducing the intermediaries, creating more margins for the producer, accompanying the latter in the qualitative upgrading of these products and thus contributing to the creation of jobs and local added value.

Roger Boons, Sales Director of Green Yard, zoomed in on the potential of the Eastern European market with Poland as a gateway via the port of Gdansk, connected by road and rail to an important hinterland. He also emphasized the bursting demand in certain international markets, which requires partnership investment in logistics dispatch centres at the destination.

Kacem Bennani Smires, CEO of the Delassus group shared a set of advice with Moroccan farmers wishing to enhance the value of their exports, as well as a set of points of recommendation aimed at reducing sea transit time, creating more added value for exports by avoiding price wars, using global distribution centres as leverage, and massifying and consolidating logistics distribution in key markets. He also launched a call for a consultation meeting between the different players to improve export conditions and the valorisation of the Return on Investment. A special focus was given to the German and British markets.

The Development Director of the port of Algeciras recalled the advanced collaboration with Tanger Med Port.  This collaboration results in the implementation of a platform for the facilitation of trade between the two ports to ensure a better speed of processing of goods and passengers flows, as well as an exchange of data between the two ports through digitization and digitalization of all commercial and maritime information, relating to the transit of passengers and goods, including documentary processing and traceability.

As a reminder, Moroccan exports of agro-business products for the 2018/2019 season have reached 3.1 million tonnes.  Tanger Med handled in 2019 nearly 2.7 million tonnes of products exported by truck, i.e. nearly 87% of Moroccan exports, and more than 9 million tonnes of products by reefer containers transhipped.

To watch the Talk again, please follow this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKkh2nrtIvQ&t=4712s