Mohamed Oulkhouir, who contributed a chapter on law to the new investment guide, is pictured during the book’s presentation alongside the Mayor, Olga Zammitt.

A local law firm is making inroads into Morocco at a time when the North African country is liberalising its economy and attracting significant foreign investment.

Cruz & Co teamed up four years ago with a Spanish partner, Balms Abogados, to set up Balms & Cruz Morocco, with offices in a refurbished villa in a well-to-do district of Tangier.

While the initial focus was on private work involving individual investors purchasing properties in Morocco, the global economic downturn brought about a change in focus for the fledgling firm.

 

Nick Cruz, left, and Mohamed Oulkhouir are pictured at the launch last week of a new investment guide to Morocco. Mr Oulkhouir is the managing partner at Balms & Cruz Morocco, a law firm with offices in Tangier set up by Cruz & Co and its Spanish partner Balms Abogados. The firm is making inroads into Morocco at a time when the North African country is liberalising its economy and attracting significant foreign investment.

Now it is mainly handling commercial work, a lot of it for British clients, and building on its position as the only Anglo-Spanish firm with a presence in Morocco.

Mohamed Oulkhouir, managing partner of Balms & Cruz Morocco, said the firm’s corporate clients are active in many different sectors of the Moroccan economy, ranging from IT, gaming and tourism, to steel and even military hardware.

This is an exciting time for business in Morocco, which under the stewardship of His Majesty King Mohamed VI has embarked on wide-ranging legislative and economic reforms.

The country has overhauled its economic, judicial and legal frameworks to facilitate and encourage domestic and foreign investment.

The aim is to consolidate and build on its role as an attractive trade partner on the doorstep of Europe.

From women’s rights to dispute resolution and the liberalisation of key areas of the economy, Morocco is changing at a fast pace and, in the process, attracting increasing investor attention.

Mr Oulkhouir was in Gibraltar to present a new book, partly sponsored by Balms & Cruz Morocco, that aims to fill an important gap by providing the first in-depth guide in English to doing business in Morocco.

Morocco, Emerging Economy of the Mediterranean covers all aspects of the Moroccan economy and includes contributions from high-level government officials including the Minister of Industry, Commerce and New Technologies, as well from industry experts.

The chapter on law was written by Mr Oulkhouir, who worked in the Paris office of the international lawyers Eversheds prior to joining Balms & Cruz Morocco.

Some of the firm’s business comes from Gibraltar itself and taps into the rich history of links between the Rock and Tangier, much of which was lost after the Moroccan city was nationalised in the 1950s.

Nick Cruz, founding partner of Cruz & Co, said Gibraltar was acting as a launch-pad for many companies looking to operate in Morocco.

“Gibraltar as a funnel for British investment is quite attractive,” he said.

As for Morocco’s transformation, he said doing business there was now pretty much like doing business anywhere else. In fact, he said, it was often easier.

By way of example, Mr Cruz cited the one-stop-shops that Morocco established some years ago for company registration, taxation and other such administrative matters. All the different government departments are housed in a single building, within metres of each other.

“It’s infrastructure that makes your life easier,” said Mr Cruz, who is also an executive member of the Progressive Democratic Party.

“It’s such a good idea that, because of my experience in Morocco, we included it in the PDP electoral manifesto.”