Free Trade Agreements and Foreign Direct Investment: Institutional proximity as attractiveness factor The case of banks and telecoms in Morocco (In French)

As all the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries, Morocco has been engaged into euro-mediterranean agreements to increase international investors trust. Another objective was to influence Multinational firms localisation choices,, as these firms are seen to be the main way to develop industries, employment, technology transfert and to reach an important growth level. In this paper, evolution of the foreign direct investment flows and their sectorial affectation since 1996 allowed us to conclude that euro-mediterranean agreements as well as world trade organisation agreement could be seen as last step of Structural Adjustment Plans. Indeed, they allowed to depeen reforms, essentially with the openness to competition of several own-stated sectors. Evolution path of foreign greenfield investment did not radically change but the important movement of mergers and acquisitions has been translated in a modification of domestic firms shareholding, especially in the banking sector and telecom. Therfore, Free Trade Agreements could be seen as the mean to fasten institutional change.