Brazilian Senate approved a bilateral investment agreement with Morocco on Thursday. The deal, signed in 2019, aims to foster economic cooperation and provide legal protection for investors from both countries. Submitted by the Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission after its approval by the Chamber of Deputies in February, the draft decree was unanimously endorsed by the senators during a plenary session in the upper house of Congress, chaired by Senator Rodrigo Pacheco. The text's rapporteur, Senator Margareth Buzetti (Social Democratic Party, State of Mato Grosso), who had submitted a favorable report for approval, stressed that the agreement will bring significant benefits to the development of both countries, noting that it is essential to facilitate investment and promote good relations between Brazil and Morocco. Signed on June 13, 2019 in Brasilia during a visit by Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Resident Abroad, the investment cooperation and facilitation agreement between Morocco and Brazil aims to promote cooperation between the two parties and establishes an institutional framework for investment facilitation. It provides investors with a framework for compliance with technical requirements and environmental standards, as well as a mechanism for dialogue, mitigation and dispute prevention. The agreement also addresses issues such as expropriation, loss compensation, transparency, transfers, prudential and fiscal measures, security exceptions and corporate social responsibility. It also addresses issues of governance, information exchange and interaction with the private sector, with the aim of increasing the legal security of Brazilian companies and investors in Morocco, and of Moroccan companies and investors in Brazil. During Bourita's visit in June 2019, the two countries signed seven agreements covering areas ranging from investment and defense to mutual legal assistance and double taxation agreements for maritime and air transport.
