MOROCCO-KUWAIT COOPERATION: A sustainable economic partnership with high added value

While Arab investors are on the verge of outperforming Morocco’s traditional Western partners, welcoming an increasing number of deals initiated by the Gulf petromonarchies under a shower of petrodollars, our Kuwaiti partners distinguish themselves by their desire to anchor economic cooperation between our two countries for the long term with high value-added projects. “Our group’s vision focuses on very long-term investment in essential sectors that generate wealth and contribute to Morocco’s economic development. The CMKD thus hopes to diversify its fields of investment as an important player in the Kingdom’s economic and social development,” is how the consortium’s vision is expressed by its chief manager, Waleed Faysal Al-Fehaid, who puts his heart and soul into his work to best serve the well-understood interests of both parties and an accelerated dynamic of Morocco’s socioeconomic development, to which he is deeply attached. What a long way we have come since the beautiful adventure initiated in 1976 with the bilateral agreement between the two governments establishing the creation of the Moroccan-Kuwaiti Consortium, with the goal of strengthening economic relations and encouraging direct investment in the Kingdom. And how many projects have been completed, are underway, and are to come, which target sensitive sectors of our economy and for which they represent essential pillars, and for which our Gulf partners are determined to make business last and flourish within our walls by taking majority control of the CMKD’s capital, reaching 84% as early as 2005 and bringing its value to a total of 829 million DH. “The Consortium accompanies the Kingdom of Morocco in its economic and social development plans through investment projects in the real estate, tourism, and finance sectors,” further specifies the Director General of the CMKD. And while the bi-national group cherishes the ambition of ensuring optimal returns by applying itself to selecting flagship projects with high added value, one must applaud the intention of such an initiative, which has seen substantial Arab capital entirely devoted, for more than 30 years, to the cause of local development in the service of a brother country, for whose needs the Consortium’s structures have undergone significant strategic changes. And it is not for lack of knowing which port to sail toward, as the group’s objectives seem well known and, above all, mastered and in phase with the major reforms and deadlines in Morocco. This approach is illustrated by the Consortium’s commitment to promoting new investments in the tourism sector within the framework of the 2010 vision. Or the CMKD’s determination to develop the real estate sector by launching high-end projects that meet the most rigorous international standards. To do this, the group devotes significant efforts and budget to the ISO 2001 certification process, just as it intends to promote human resources at work. Let us recall the CMKD’s subsidiary companies in the field of tourism and hospitality with the Farah Maghreb chain established in Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Safi, and Khouribga. This company has also taken a stake in the French group Barrière, which plans to build a luxury tourist complex in Marrakech. The real estate sector is represented by the company Diyar, renowned for its developments of the same name in Casablanca and Salé, and the company Maqam, specialized in the development of large plots of land into subdivisions to accommodate very high-end residences and luxury villas. The group has also acquired shares in the Moroccan real estate holding company Addoha. The industrial sector is invested in through a strategic partnership policy with the company Afriquia, and the service sector is boosted by the consortium’s shares purchased in the Maroc Telecom group on the Casablanca Stock Exchange. And recently, social issues have been taken into account with the agreement signed with national microcredit actors for an amount of 2 million DH, intended for the promotion of non-formal education and literacy in rural areas.