FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée (IM) coorganized a workshop on “Integration of Moroccan SME exporters in global value chains” Thursday, February 22, 2018 at ISCAE, Casablanca, Morocco.

This workshop is part of an IM-FEMISE partnership with  ISCAE group and presented the preliminary findings of an African Development Bank study entitled “Identifying obstacles to improving the business environment and improving integration into the global value chains of Moroccan SME exporters”, which was co-led by Pr. Patricia AUGIER (IM, FEMISE) and with contributions of experts from the FEMISE network.

The study focuses on the issue of global value chains (GVCs). The assessment, in the case of Morocco, shows a low level of integration in GVCs compared with other countries within or close to the region. Then, the study identifies the most important obstacles to the integration of Moroccan SMEs in GVCs, based on interviews and case studies that were conducted between spring and the end of 2017.

Among other things, the study highlights :

• On the import side, the main constraints are cumbersome customs procedures, cost of obtaining currency hedging and access to finance.
• On the export side, what stands out most is the ability to penetrate the markets, access to finance, transport costs, cumbersome customs procedures, the cost of currency hedging, weak R & D, the difficulty of adapting products to the standards imposed on foreign markets and the difficulty of hiring labor.
• In their relations with ordering parties, Moroccan SMEs face five major difficulties: the lack of efficient logistics services, the lack of competitiveness of products, the difficulty in satisfying the requirements of the order ordering parties, the difficulty to put the product or production process to the standards and standards imposed and the lack of qualified manpower.
• Finally, the most important needs expressed by companies to help them integrate the CVM are: support for contact with foreign companies, the need for bank credits and support for product compliance and / or production processes to standards and standards imposed.

The workshop agenda is available here.

Articles from the Moroccan press on the event are available below :

LesEco.Ma, PME : QUELLE INTÉGRATION DANS LES CHAÎNES DES VALEURS MONDIALES

LeMatin.Ma, Intégration dans les chaînes de valeur mondiales : Les PME marocaines toujours dans le même bourbier

Libe.Ma, PME exportatrices et chaînes de valeurs mondiales entre contraintes et opportunités

L’Economiste.com, Compétitivité industrielle: A peine 1% des entreprises font de l’export

[1] This event received financial support from the European Union through the FEMISE project on “Support to Economic Research, studies and dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. Any views expressed in this seminar are the sole responsibility of the speakers.