
Ireland and Morocco’s deep rooted agricultural heritages makes them “a perfect match” for boosting trade relations, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade official has said.
This week a trade delegation from Morocco, headed by Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture Hamou Ouheli, visited a number of State bodies in the capital.
The visit follows a successful trade mission to Morocco, led by minister Michael Creed in November.
The group, including senior government officials, farmers and leading representatives of Morocco’s agri-food industry, held high-level talks with Bord Bia, Teagasc and Enterprise Ireland on future opportunities. According to Bord Bia, trade of Irish food and drink to Morocco was valued at €15.6m in 2016, an increase of 20pc on 2015.
Exports to the market are driven almost solely by the dairy category (98pc).
By Claire McCormack