When Asia accelerates in textiles, Morocco falters
According to La Nouvelle Tribune, the first five months of 2025 confirmed the downward trend in the Moroccan textile and clothing sector. Ready-to-wear exports fell by 2.1 percent, reaching 12.9 billion dirhams (approximately 1.29 billion dollars). Knitwear saw a 3.1 percent drop, to 3.64 billion dirhams. These figures extend a stagnation that began in 2024, despite the rebound in the global economy.
As Maroc Diplomatique points out, the meteoric rise of Asian platforms such as Shein and Temu is upsetting the balance of the European market. By flooding distribution channels with very low-priced products, these players are capturing an increasingly price-conscious clientele. 'The European market has changed considerably,' observes Jean-François Limantour, president of the European network Cedith. Morocco, meanwhile, remains tied to a mid-range production model inherited from the 1990s. This positioning is now weakened by the rise of ultra-competitive production strategies in Southeast Asia.
Although Moroccan exports to the European Union grew by 4.5 percent over the period, they remain well below the average growth of the European market, estimated at +11.4 percent. As a result, Morocco's share of EU textile imports has collapsed, from 4.5 percent in 2005 to only 2.35 percent in May 2025, according to La Nouvelle Tribune. Turkey and Tunisia, also facing the rise of Asia, have managed to limit the damage thanks to a faster diversification of their offer and their markets. In comparison, the Moroccan positioning seems frozen, unresponsive to the warning signs of an industry undergoing a complete redefinition. Factors affecting the Moroccan exports
Another structural weakness is the geographical concentration of exports. According to Maroc Diplomatique, nearly 90 percent of Moroccan sales abroad are directed exclusively to France and Spain. This dependence makes the sector particularly vulnerable to slowdowns in these two economies. 'Italy, Switzerland and Austria represent interesting growth drivers, provided that their needs are better understood,' analyses Limantour. On the other hand, conquering the sub-Saharan market is not envisaged in the short term, due to a lack of sufficient purchasing power.
Faced with this situation, several avenues for recovery are being considered. Limantour advocates a profound change of course: 'Morocco must move away from the basic subcontracting model and focus on innovation, sustainability and moving upmarket.' He identifies five levers for action: digitalisation; artificial intelligence; the development of technical clothing (sports, health, safety); compliance with environmental standards; and the reform of trade agreements with the EU, where Asian competitors still benefit from more advantageous customs treatment.
Beyond the economic indicators, the issue at stake is employment. Textiles still represent one of the largest reservoirs of industrial jobs in Morocco. Any lasting decline could destabilise large employment pools, particularly in the northern and Casablanca regions. 'If Morocco does not change course, it risks losing its Euro-Mediterranean foothold in the textile value chain,' warns Limantour. The sector must now either cling to a model that is most certainly outdated or take the turn towards a genuine industrial transformation. This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
10 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
University of Edinburgh 'pushing staff to cut exams'
In the latest guidance on minimum standards for assessment in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the section on exams states: "Reducing the number of exams limits the considerable additional academic, administrative and estates costs associated with exams, and minimises the need for alternative assessments for student with adjustments". It's understood that behind the scenes considerably more overt pressure is being put on departments in the school, which represents more than half of the University, to move away from exams. Read More: However, staff have questioned the expenditure the university has on external venues for exams, and raised concerns about removing an aspect of courses which cannot be influenced by Artificial Intelligence (AI). A concerned staff member, who has been kept anonymous to protect their position, told The Herald: "There is regular encouragement to get rid of exams. "A lot of the subjects within our college have gotten rid of exams in the past few years, they got suspended during Covid and everything was online. 'Then, partly under encouragement from management, a lot of them just never came back and now so many have got rid of exams a lot of those still using them are being pressured to get rid of them because the university spends a lot of money renting out the EICC (Edinburgh International Conference Centre)." The conference centre is an external venue that is used to host exams for the University of Edinburgh. It's understood the University of Edinburgh receives a discounted rate to hire rooms at the EICC. The Edinburgh International Conference Centre However, the cost of doing so is likely to run well into six figures. The university hires space at the conference centre for four to five weeks in May and approximately two weeks in December to hold exams. It's understood the rate for the university to hire the Cromdale Room in 2025 stands at £9500 + VAT per day for 2025, rising to £9700 + VAT for 2026. For the Lennox, Lammermuir and Moffat rooms the combined costs are £13,000 + VAT per day, rising to £13,650 for 2026. A staff member said: "We used to have all our exams on site, because we have a lot of large spaces like gymnasiums and stuff like that. 'Before the pandemic the regular exam diet had two exams, through May and December we'd have exams usually at 10am and 2pm. 'During the pandemic people were doing exams online and they were in different time zones all over world, so we did all of our exams at 1pm UK time which wouldn't be too insane for most other people. 'When they started doing exams in person again they just kept that, they only did one exam per day so we didn't have enough space and we started renting it at the Conference Centre - which seems mad to me. 'The whole enterprise is incredibly expensive, we're renting out at least three of their large rooms and possibly more than that for four or five weeks in May, two or three weeks in December. 'So because they're so expensive they're pressuring us to use fewer exams, but they also seem very reluctant to revert to the old system of just using the gymnasiums which we have – we do use them, but not very intensely – and some of the spaces we used to use locally aren't being used at all, we're just renting the Conference Centre and spending huge amount of money on it in the middle of a budget crisis. "If you're making cuts that seems like the first thing you'd get rid of, exams themselves should be about 10,000th in your priority list." The University said the EICC "has been used in specific circumstances as part of contingency planning to minimise any possible disruption to students". While there are some subjects where exams are less useful than in others, and ones where students will naturally sit fewer of them, a move away from exams is raising concerns over the degrees being handed out. The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT has made assessment by essay less reliable. In January 2023 a survey of 1,000 college students found that nearly 90% of them had used ChatGPT to help with homework assignments. Read More: A staff member said: "I sit in meetings with the same people who don't like exams and we're talking about AI and they'll say, 'it's crazy, it's obvious how much our students are using them, all the worst essays have disappeared'. 'You'll always have students who can barely write, can barely get words on a page, so you used to have this left hand tail of extremely low quality for all assignments and that has almost disappeared. 'The ability to rank students and assess them on their writing is so far below what it was five years ago before LLMs. "Even if we don't think exams are a great way to assess they're becoming, relatively speaking, better and better over time because it's where we know the students aren't using LLMs to completely undermine the whole process. "As universities have got bigger there's more and more bureaucracy, you have people making decisions who are not involved in teaching at all, and the people who are teaching have no way to get their voice into these decisions that are being made. 'As a result I think some people just don't realise how quickly the LLMs have taken over. "You can see it, even in the style of writing, it's so clear but part of the problem is that it's very clear, but it's also very hard to say it absolutely, definitively and fail a student for it. "The typical way of plagiarising was copying a student on the same course, which is just idiotic and you can easily recognise it because you have two assignments that are the same. The other way would be copying blocks of text from another source. 'So you could bring a student in, put them through a whole disciplinary process and give them zero. 'But when they use AI, you don't really know. A lot of students are only using it to basically clean up their essays, a lot of them don't speak English as a first language so they write the essay either in bad English or their native language and run it through an LLM to clean up the grammar. 'So that's bad - but it's not too bad, right? We would like them to develop writing skills but at least they're learning the subject and researching the core material. 'But some students are just doing it wholesale, and the trouble is that at the end it's really hard to tell the difference. They're both written in the style of an LLM, so I don't know if you wrote the thing in your native language and cleaned it up with AI, or if the AI just did the whole thing for you. 'Even if I suspect it's one of those things it's hard to punish them anyway, because you can't absolutely prove it. You can say 'you've used the word 'delve' about 12 times as much as a normal person', which is a big ChatGPT giveaway, but I can't say 'you used the word 'delve' a lot so I'm going to fail you'. You just can't prove it. 'When they copy blocks of text you can prove it, you can just compare the blocks of text, but you can't do that with LLMs so students basically just get away with it. 'You have a lot more students who have no idea what they're doing at all and they could pass – it's not like they're going to get a First, but they'll pass and do OK. 'The point is you can pass and do OK with almost no knowledge at all, it's a major concern for a lot of people in universities.' A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: "Marking and assessment procedures vary across the University, reflecting the diverse range of disciplines we offer. "Any decisions around exams and ongoing assessment take into account feedback from students and staff, the specific requirements of each programme and support needed for those who require learning adjustments. "Colleagues can share their insights or concerns through our College and School-level committees, and the University is actively engaging with students and staff on the appropriate use of generative AI. Our published guidance reflects a commitment to upholding academic integrity, while recognising acceptable and innovative uses of new technologies.'
The National
12 hours ago
- The National
Edinburgh losing free and affordable places to hang out
However, with product price hikes every couple of months, rent increases and tourists in every corner, there are not many third spaces where young people can gather freely and affordably. A third place is a social space separate from home and work, where people can gather and interact. Their disappearance is a worldwide phenomenon affecting everyone who cannot afford to pay to stay in cafes, bars, restaurants, gyms, or any sort of class or workshop. In a 2021 article by Angela Henshall for the BBC, she expanded on the importance of third places for our health, happiness, and sense of belonging in our communities. READ MORE: 'Absolutely crazy': Scottish jazz artist scores new film by Hollywood director 'The COVID-19 pandemic catalysed many major shifts in society, but there are two main social effects. First, our discrete work and home spaces immediately collapsed into one another – arguably accelerating the collapse of boundaries that have been eroding for years. And second, we lost all of our third places overnight,' said Henshall. These effects are still present today, especially in Edinburgh, where prices are higher than ever and 'pay-to-play' culture prevails. High rents and expensive cafes: how third spaces are only for the few IN Edinburgh, two drinks at the bar end up costing £15, and even a cup of coffee with friends can end up costing a fiver. Community centres, youth clubs, and libraries are vanishing, and their disappearance is fueling an already existing loneliness epidemic. In a recent article for the Edinburgh Reporter, Charlie Ellis asks 'Does Edinburgh have too many coffee shops?', and highlights their increasing costs and the social polarisation that comes with it. 'When entering such coffee places, there's little doubt that the customers represent a specific slice of Edinburgh. The customers are younger than average, often students and 'knowledge workers', able to take their slim laptops anywhere, as they work in a hybrid or remote fashion,' said Ellis. I interviewed Conor Haining, communications officer for Living Rent in the Edinburgh Leith branch at the time of this interview, about a lack of free and affordable third places in Edinburgh. Tenants' union Living Rent 'Free or affordable third places are vanishing, and others are increasingly becoming 'pay-to-play'. If you cannot go out and afford a coffee every day, then you are excluded. It's the same with other third places like pubs or yoga classes. Pubs are such a massive part of Scottish culture as well, if you cannot pay, you'll be excluded,' said Haining. In addition to product costs, rent prices make it more expensive than ever for young Edinburgh residents to be out of the house. In March 2025, the average rent for a one-bedroom in the Lothian region was £1020, or £1321 for a two-bedroom (ONS). READ MORE: 'F***ing slags': Oasis take aim at Edinburgh Council chiefs in first Murrayfield gig Young people between 16 and 34 are the biggest age group in the Scottish private rental sector, and in March 2025, private rental price annual inflation in the Lothian region surpassed both Scotland's and Great Britain's, according to the 2024 Scottish Government Equality Impact Assessment. 'Evidence suggests in some cases this may be because residents in this age group may be unable to afford or access other tenures such as home ownership,' the report states. The impact of tourism: short-term lets and less space IN 2023, Edinburgh represented almost 40% of the total of staying visits in Scotland, and international tourism increased by nearly 30% in the last year, according to Edinburgh City Council. In 2023, domestic and international tourists brought a total spend of £2,321 million to the city, according to Visit Scotland. The negative impacts of tourism are well-known to Living Rent, with their two most recent campaigns relating to the purpose of the new 5% tourist tax towards council flats, and the regulation of short-term lets. 'Short-term lets have an impact on housing availability, especially in Leith. Particularly at The Shore and Ocean Terminal, these places have skyrocketed in short-term lets,' added Haining. These issues, alongside the active housing emergency declared in November 2023 by the Edinburgh City Council, raise questions about the importance of free and affordable third places for residents, free from the tourist crowds. I spoke to Alexander Savin, founder of the Open Parks Edinburgh initiative campaigning for public access to New Town's private gardens. These take up a total of 23 hectares, or 32 full-sized football pitches. 'Recently, in Dean Gardens, police have been surveying the area because youths have been trespassing into the park. They dare each other to jump the fence,' he said. 'If you look at these parks, they are largely underutilised and very much empty. Restaurants are expensive, and cafes close by 5pm. We complain that young people are always on their phones, but if we provide them with space, they will use it.' Not all is lost: building communities in Portobello and Wester Hailes DESPITE the city's struggles to provide free, affordable third places around its city centre, some community spaces are thriving in other parts of Edinburgh. You can head to Portobello's Bellfield community space, an old church hosting workshops, classes, concerts, and community group meetings. This is a space owned by locals through community shares, which act as a long-term investment for a future redevelopment. In Wester Hailes, the opposite side of the city, you can also find the Community Wellbeing Collective, a social art-based organisation with tight links to the community. Founded in 2022, the space was commissioned for the Edinburgh Arts Festival and still provides free events and a community space. Their website reads: 'The Space continues to be a living artwork brought to life each time a human comes to rest, connects, and plays within it. Local members host the space and deliver political events and wellbeing activities which suspend the suffocation of intersecting oppressions, creating space to breathe and the possibility to dream together.'
Daily Record
12 hours ago
- Daily Record
Scottish Government warned to 'come clean' over £180k cash for Trump course contest
The public funding was said to be supporting the delivery of the Nexo Championships but instead it was used to buy a giant advert on the US President's Aberdeen course. The Scottish Government has been accused of misleading the public over its decision to award £180,000 of taxpayers' cash to a golf competition on Donald Trump's course. The funding, announced on the second day of the US President's visit to Scotland last month, was said to be for supporting 'delivery of this year's' Nexo Championship. But the Sunday Mail can reveal the cash was actually spent on adverts including a giant VisitScotland sign, a 30-second online advert and some 'Scotland' billboards around the Trump International course in Aberdeen. The funding had no bearing on whether the competition would go ahead as the event had been announced in May. But Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie said: 'The Scottish Government needs to come clean about what Scotland gets out of this public funding. "If it's simply for advertising, they should not have claimed it was about the delivery of the event. And if it's about delivery of the event, they need to explain why a billionaire's event hosted at a billionaire's resort needs any public money at all. "It appears this was simply done to curry favour with Donald Trump, and to massage his ego. Governments should not be treating him this way.' Tourism body VisitScotland said it made the decision to spend £180,000 on advertising days after it was confirmed Trump was coming to Scotland. The spending was publicly announced by the Scottish Government on July 26 – two days before Swinney was due to meet Trump for a luxury meal at his Menie golf course. VisitScotland officials had decided they'd give the contest £180,000 in advertising money weeks earlier. The tourism body said it held talks with tour organisers and agreed to spend the money between July 10 and 13. On July 9, Police Scotland confirmed it was preparing for a possible visit from Trump later in the month. Harvie said: " 'The Scottish Government absolutely should not be pandering to him or promoting him or his businesses. 'At heart it is a question of values. Donald Trump and his values should not be welcomed in Scotland, and the First Minister would be far better reflecting that than continuing to embarrass Scotland by cozying up to him.' The Nexo Championship, previously called the Scottish Championship, is sponsored by Nexo – a cryptocurrency asset management firm which had £135million revenue last year. The European tour which the Aberdeen contest is a part of is sponsored by DP World, which had a revenue of £15billion last year and is run by Dubai entrepreneur Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, worth about £7billion. Swinney previously faced criticism for allowing public funds to be used on the contest given the wealth of its sponsors and its £2million prize pot. He was also accused of using the money to buy a 'five minute meet-and-greet' with the US President during his Scots visit. VisitScotland said DP World Tour made a 'proposal' for advertising 'and agreement in principle was discussed at the Genesis Scottish Open which took place 10-13 July.' A spokeswoman said: 'Our investment is for a host nation brand profile opportunity. On-course branding and advertising across live broadcast to a global audience enables … a platform for promoting Scotland and the north east, with the intention of inspiring visits.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
