With a value of $19.9 billion in manufacturing exports recorded in 2021, the Kingdom of Morocco ranks third in the Arab world, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) said.
In its unified Arab economic report, the FMA pointed out that manufacturing exports in Morocco were equivalent to 6.1% of total Arab manufacturing exports. The United Arab Emirates is the first country in the Arab world in terms of manufacturing exports in 2021, with a value of 142.5 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 43.9% of the total exports of the Arab manufacturing industry, followed Saudi Arabia with regarding $69 billion, with a 21.2% share, the same source added. Egypt’s share in the volume of Arab manufacturing industries in 2021 stood at around 6.1%, Tunisia at 4%, Bahrain at 2.2%, Jordan at 2.1%, Kuwait at 2%, Algeria 1.1%, Lebanon 0.8%, Libya 0.5%, Djibouti 0.5% and Iraq 0.1%, it was specified. .
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The FMA said that manufacturing exports in Arab countries amounted to 325 billion dollars in 2021, compared to regarding 244 billion dollars in 2020, an increase of regarding 33.2%, explaining that this growth is due to the easing of precautionary measures and the procedures taken to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and economic stimulus programs. According to the report, exports from the manufacturing industry accounted for around 23.3% of the total exports of Arab countries, compared to around 32.3% in 2020. This decline is due to the development of the contribution of extractive industries due to the high demand for oil and natural gas and their high prices globally, the FMA noted.
The report recommends Arab countries to move towards improving the competitiveness of their economies and to focus on strengthening industries which the pandemic has shown the need to accelerate their development, such as pharmaceutical and preventive industries, as well as modern and sustainable industries.