Morocco Overview | Property in Morocco
The Kingdom of Morocco is at the farthest west point
of the Arab world and North Africa just under the Strait of
Gibraltar. Morocco is strategically located with both Atlantic
and Mediterranean coastlines, and a rugged mountainous interior.
Morocco was a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956,
when Sultan Mohammed became king. He was succeeded in 1961 by his son,
Hassan II and then in 1999 he was succeeded by his son King Mohammed
VI.
The capital city is Rabat. Other major cities are
Marrakesh and Fes and the ports of Casablanca and Tangier.
The people of Morocco have a rich diversity and unique
cultural blended from Arab, Berber, European and African influences.
Moroccans are some of the most generous
hospitable people in the world. It's not uncommon to get invited
to dinner upon meeting and chatting with a Moroccan for only ten minutes
and if you are honored with such an opportunity you will be treated
to an experience you will never forget.
Typical Moroccan meals for guests are two to three
courses that extend over several hours of lively conversation. Mint
Tea is an integral part of Moroccan hospitality and daily life that
you are almost sure to experience.
The official language is Arabic and various Berber
dialects are spoken.
French is widely spoken in business, government
and academic circles and Spanish is also spoken in the north.
English is also widely used in hotels,
restaurants and cafes where there are a larger number of tourists.
ECONOMY
Morocco has a free market economy that
has grown by an average of 4% a year since 1983. The government
has adopted a proactive privatization creating opportunities in the
telecommunication, utilities and automotive sectors.
There is a free trade zone at the port
and airport of Tangier and merchandise entering these zones is exempt
from customs, fiscal and exchange control.
There is also a small but active stock
exchange in Casablanca. (http://www.casablanca-bourse.com/)
Morocco’s exports include fish citrus fruits,
energy, finished products, phosphates phosphoric acid and raw materials.
Other key areas of the economy are tourism, agriculture, fishing and
forestry
Local currency
The unit of currency is the Dirham (DH),
which is divided into 100 centimes. Business visitors are advised to
consult their banks for the current rate of exchange. No import of dirham’s
is allowed. Overseas visitors need to change their currency into dirham’s
locally.
The Moroccan Central Bank (Bank Al Maghrib)
fixes the value of the Dirham using a basket of currencies including
the Euro, Dollar and Yen. The Dirham is not yet fully convertible.
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