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Israel, Morocco sign MoU to further tighten their business relationship
July 18, 2022
The two nations have wasted no time in establishing a cooperative business arena since normalizing their relations in 2020.
What goes better with falafel than couscous and a heaping load of business cooperation? In a move on Monday in Geneva that will boost innovation and strengthen entrepreneurial relations between Israeli and Moroccaninnovators, the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco signed their first official memorandum of understanding (MoU) on intellectual property.
The agreement was signed by Israel Patent Office Executive Director Ofir Alon and Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property Director-General Abdelaziz Babqiqi. It was performed on the sidelines of the Sixty-Third Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva (WIPO), and witnessed by WIPO Director-General Daren Tang.
The MoU will promote cooperation between the two nations in the field of industrial property protection, a subset of intellectual property that pertains to patents for inventions, trademarks, commercial names and designations, protection against unfair competition and a host of other subjects.
Additionally, it will enable information sharing between the two nations’ intellectual property offices, while providing assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises, hoping to protect their industrial property.
After the initial five years set in the agreement, the agreement is set to automatically renew for further five-year periods.
The latest development
This is the latest development between Israel and Morocco following the reestablishment of normalized relations in December 2020 in the framework of the Abraham Accords. Since then, Israel and Morocco have wasted no time in cross-pollinating their business markets.
Several international conferences have been held to promote the co-mingling of entrepreneurs and investors on both sides, with marked success.
Earlier this year at the Morocco-Israel Connect to Innovate conference in Casablanca, more than 13 MoUs were signed on the event floor, establishing an increasingly tighter network of cooperation between Israeli start-ups and their Moroccan counterparts.
Following Monday’s MoU signing, Ambassador Omar Zniber, permanent representative of Morocco to the United Nations in Geneva, noted the importance of the step in the nations’ business relationship.
“This MoU is the testimony of our will to develop our cooperation and partnership in innovation, creativity and high technology, targeting fundamental fields for both Israel and Morocco, such as water governance, agriculture, science technology and competitiveness,” he said.
Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, said, “This agreement will enable entrepreneurs and innovators to build a more prosperous and sustainable future for future generations in Israel and Morocco. We value this bilateral cooperation and will work to expand it throughout the multilateral arena from Geneva.”