Foreign Trade. Inside Morocco’s new portal to cut delays and boost exports

Driven by a new generation of port infrastructure and the digitalization of administrative procedures, Morocco is seeking to strengthen its appeal to investors and exporters. For Omar Hejira, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, the imminent launch of the unified portal for foreign trade procedures will be one of the flagship projects of the National Pact for Foreign Trade 2025-2027.

A portal to speed up Moroccan exports

“In practical terms, this portal will not be merely a tool, but rather an instrument of industrial competitiveness designed to support strategic sectors such as automotive, aerospace and chemical-related industries,” the Secretary of State said, stressing that the project forms part of a broader vision to modernize national infrastructure under the impetus of the Sovereign.

Referring to the emergence of ports such as Nador and Dakhla, around which ecosystems are developing that will make Morocco an essential platform for international trade, he said the country’s economic center of gravity is no longer limited to the Casablanca hub alone, which is itself undergoing major redevelopment.

This strategy is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s infrastructure against major rival international trade platforms and to boost Moroccan exports.

A response to administrative bottlenecks

To achieve this, the unified portal aims to simplify the process for economic operators by putting an end to the proliferation of procedures, forms and points of contact required to carry out import-export operations.

“Instead of filling out a dozen files and dealing with as many public administrations in order to export, the unified portal will simplify procedures,” Omar Hejira said, adding that data will be entered only once before being reused by all integrated systems.

Noting that, in a context of heightened international competition, every reduction in time and cost is a strategic advantage, the official said some administrative formalities that have already been digitized have gone from taking a week to just a few hours.

In addition, this centralized interface will allow operators to track their files in real time.

A project built around Portnet

While its official launch is scheduled for May 18, Hejira said the portal, which relies on Portnet’s infrastructure — a platform used by more than 100,000 operators and connected to 14 Moroccan ports as well as several public administrations — is now in its operational phase.

“With 12 new public bodies being integrated and around twenty formalities soon to be digitized and secured, the foreign trade procedures portal is no longer at the idea stage,” the Secretary of State said. According to him, technical workshops and testing phases have been carried out to ensure the system’s reliability before its launch, which will be followed by a gradual rollout.

Harmonizing administrations

Regarding its content and operation, the Secretary of State said the project, which is being finalized, is based on the principle of interconnection rather than the creation of an additional platform.

“Our objective is not to create another platform, but to connect the many existing systems within a single-window system,” Omar Hejira explained, adding that his department is leading the project with the customs administration, the ministries concerned, ONSSA and the other bodies involved, while Portnet acts as the technical operator.

While an initial alignment between the National Ports Agency (ANP) and Tanger Med port was necessary, Hejira said the objective is ultimately to harmonize all port procedures nationwide.

A strategic lever of the 2025-2027 Pact

“Beyond administrative simplification for operators, the objective is to strengthen the competitiveness of our companies and consolidate Morocco’s position as a regional logistics and trade hub, particularly towards the African continent,” the official said, describing the portal as one of the structuring projects of the National Pact for Foreign Trade 2025-2027.

He concluded that the portal, which goes beyond a mere administrative project, will ultimately become a real lever for competitiveness and performance for Moroccan exporters seeking to expand internationally and access, through Morocco’s 11 free trade agreements, a market of 3 billion consumers.