International Trade Secretary Dr Liam FoxMP has today (Monday 3
June) announced an agreement between the UK and Morocco for British
private and international schools to open in Morocco. The news
comes as the International Trade Secretary concluded a week-long
visit to Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
Under the agreement, British schools will be able to open branch
campuses in Morocco, giving Moroccans greater choice of schools
and increased access to the UK’s world-class education expertise
as well as the opportunity to learn in the English language, an
increasingly recognised skill across the region.
In addition, the agreement will see British schools to provide a
number of scholarships for children from low-income background.
The Department for International Trade will also host a trade
mission to Morocco in July to help UK schools find partners to
establish additional British schools in the country, and the
first British school will open on 19 September in Marrakech.
While in Morocco, the Secretary of State also met with government
representatives to discuss investment opportunities ahead of the
Africa Investment Summit. The visit also reaffirmed the UK’s
commitment to becoming the number one G7 investor in Africa by
2022.
International Trade Secretary MP said:
“Morocco offers the UK a wealth of opportunities for trade and
investment and there is clearly a growing demand for the UK’s
world-class education offer. Our commitment to education is
clear. Earlier this year the government launched its
International Education Strategy to help UK businesses develop
strong partnerships internationally.
“As global headwinds grow, the UK’s dedicated Department for
International Trade is on hand to help British business succeed
in growing economies across the world, in ways that never
happened before.”
During the trip, the Secretary of State also announced that
British telecoms operator Vodafone has won a major contract that
will from a key-part of the Egyptian government’s push to roll
out NHS-style universal healthcare for every man, woman and child
in the country. Vodafone secured a £100m contract with help from
the Department for International Trade to build Egypt’s new
Health Insurance IT system.
The Secretary of State also announced that CDC group, the
development financial institution owned by the UK government, has
announced that it has been granted approval by the Central Bank
of Egypt to lend up to US$200m to local banks in order to support
the country’s ongoing economic development.
Elsewhere, Nottingham-based Micro-Mesh, the UK’s leading provider
of air filters, signed an MOU with Egypt’s Ministry of Military
Production to produce its filters in-country. The agreement will
see the manufacturer invest around £500,000 in an Egyptian
factory where they will co-produce air filters for gas turbines
in power stations with the Egyptian government.
Notes to editors:
- Latest statistics from the ONS show UK firms sold more
overseas in the 2018/19 financial year, £639.9 billion, than at
any time since records began.
- The UK has now achieved export growth in the last 36
consecutive 12-month periods on a rolling basis.
- Separate OECD data shows UK exports grew faster than Germany,
France and Italy between 2016 and 2018
