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Morocco World
19 hours ago
- Business
- Morocco World
Bourita: Morocco's Visa Policy Based on Reciprocity, National Interest
Doha – Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita outlined Morocco's visa policy principles during a session at the Chamber of Counselors on Tuesday, emphasizing that the country adopts a sovereign approach based on political, historical, economic, and social considerations. Speaking during the weekly oral questions session, Bourita explained that Morocco's visa policy rests on three fundamental principles: reciprocity, protection of economic and political interests, and flexibility adapted to specific contexts. 'Each country is free to establish its own rules,' Bourita stated as he addressed questions about Morocco's e-visa system. He noted that the cost and security features of the Moroccan e-visa have evolved in line with international standards. The minister mentioned that visa prices increased last month, with e-visa platforms charging additional fees for expedited processing, such as obtaining an e-visa within 24 hours. Regarding Schengen visas, Bourita provided specific figures, reporting that European Union countries issued approximately 610,000 visas to Moroccan citizens in 2024, with a rejection rate of about 20%. France alone granted 283,000 visas to Moroccans, representing a 17% increase compared to the previous year. According to the minister, this represents the highest number of visas France has issued to any non-OECD country. Recent data shows Morocco now ranks fourth globally for Schengen visa applications in 2024, following only China, India, and Turkey. According to SchengenVisaInfo, 11,716,723 Schengen visa applications were submitted to EU countries in 2024, marking a 13.5% increase compared to the previous year, though still below pre-pandemic levels of nearly 17 million in 2019. Read also: Morocco Signed 7,500 International Agreements, Two-Thirds Under King Mohammed VI Bourita acknowledged challenges Moroccan citizens face when applying for Schengen visas, warning against certain practices by diplomatic representations or intermediaries that 'undermine the dignity of Moroccan citizens.' He affirmed that the country cannot tolerate such behaviors and reserves the right to respond accordingly. The black market for visa appointments has become a serious issue for Moroccan applicants. Intermediaries have been exploiting online appointment systems, using advanced software to snatch slots and resell them at prices reaching up to MAD 10,000 (around $1,000). The minister also addressed complaints handling, revealing that 1,345 requests and complaints were processed in 2024 through the national complaints portal ' These were categorized into four main types: consular matters, civil status requests, criminal issues, and social concerns. Bourita explained that complaints falling within the ministry's direct jurisdiction are handled internally, while others are forwarded to relevant departments or the Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans Residing Abroad. Close coordination with the Mediator institution ensures proper follow-up of cases. Visa injustice and diaspora potential dominate policy talks The discussion of Morocco's visa policy comes amid growing parliamentary pressure to implement reciprocal measures against European countries. In March, parliamentarians Khalid Es-Satte and Loubna Alaoui requested that the Foreign Ministry consider imposing visa requirements on European citizens entering Morocco, arguing that European countries generate significant revenue from fees charged to Moroccans while Europeans can enter the country without restrictions. This proposal emerged amid frustration over difficulties Moroccans face when applying for Schengen visas. In 2023, Moroccans lost MAD 118 million ($11.8 million) due to rejected Schengen visa applications, with a total of 136,367 refusals. More than half were processed by Spanish and French embassies and consulates. Hanane Atarguine, a deputy from the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), has advocated for reimbursing fees to applicants whose visas are denied, pointing to the financial and psychological burden the current process places on many Moroccans. In contrast to potential reciprocal measures against European countries, Morocco has demonstrated restraint regarding Algeria's unilateral decision to reimpose visa requirements on Moroccan citizens in September 2024. Algeria claimed the decision was necessary to combat 'organized crime networks, drug and human trafficking, illegal immigration, and espionage,' allegedly conducted by Morocco—accusations made without supporting evidence. When Morocco imposed visas on Algerians in 1994 following a hotel bombing in Marrakech, Algeria reciprocated. Morocco unilaterally lifted the requirement for Algerians in 2004, with Algeria following suit for Moroccans in 2005. Despite Algeria's recent reimposition of visa requirements on Moroccans, Morocco has chosen not to respond in kind for Algerian citizens. As the visa policy debate continues, Bourita stressed the need to better leverage the potential of Moroccan expatriates, particularly through creating a dedicated database of Moroccan talents abroad. He noted that investments from the Moroccan diaspora, estimated at 6 million people across more than 100 countries (with 80% concentrated in six European countries), represent only about 10% of their remittances. This figure must be increased to make these competencies a true driver of national development, Bourita concluded. Tags: Nasser BouritaVisas
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil demand growth set to slow for remainder of 2025: IEA
Global oil demand growth is projected to decelerate from 990,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025) to 650,000bpd for the remainder of the year, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The average annual increase of 740,000bpd is expected in 2025, rising further to 760,000bpd in 2026. This comes as economic headwinds and a surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales temper oil use, despite the accelerating declines in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. World oil supply is anticipated to rise by 1.6 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) to an average of 104.6mbbl/d in 2025, with a further increase of 970,000bpd in 2026. Non-OPEC+ producers are expected to contribute 1.3mbbl/d this year and 820,000bpd the following year, even as US light tight oil (LTO) supply sees reductions. OPEC+ is poised to add 310,000bpd of extra supply in 2025 and 150,000bpd in 2026, according to the latest plans, the report said. Refinery throughput forecasts for 2025 and 2026 remain largely unchanged at 83.2mbbl/d and 83.6mbbl/d, respectively. According to the report, global oil stocks experienced a rise of 25.1mbbl in March, primarily due to a 57.8mbbl increase in crude. However, total inventories remained below the five-year average by 221mbbl. Benchmark crude oil prices witnessed a decline of around $10 per barrel over April and into May, influenced by escalating US tariffs and larger-than-expected OPEC+ output hikes. However, bearish sentiment was tempered following trade agreements between the US and the UK, and a 90-day accord with China. Delivery data from non-OECD countries, particularly China and India, has been weaker than anticipated, leading to a revised growth forecast of 650,000bpd for the remainder of 2025. OPEC+ announced a second consecutive monthly increase of 411,000bpd for June, advancing production to levels previously scheduled for October 2025. With new supply targets through June, OPEC+ is set to pump an additional 310,000bpd this year and 150,000bpd in 2026. With global supply set to significantly outpace demand growth, oil inventories are forecast to rise by an average of 720,000bpd this year and 930,000bpd next year, compared with a decline of 140,000bpd in 2024. "Oil demand growth set to slow for remainder of 2025: IEA" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Increasing frustration at lack of housing options in OECD countries
People under 40 or even 50 have become more vocal in recent years about their increasingly remote prospects of ever owning a home or in some cases even affording the increasingly pricey apartment rentals in some Western cities. Italians have long been stereotyped for living at home with momma well into their adulthood, but elsewhere adults are moving back in with ageing parents as housing markets are squeezed by inflation, migration, gentrification and onerous planning requirements, and as rents, bills and wider costs-of-living go up. US polling company Gallup says satisfaction levels in the availability of good, affordable housing has "plunged" across the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes much of Europe and North America, as well as Australia, Japan and parts of South America. The Gallup polling also reported associated declines in perceptions of personal freedom and safety, stress levels and overall happiness from its ongoing World Poll across 160 countries. The latest findings indicate that people in the OECD's 38 "mostly high-income, market-based economies" have diverged from people in other parts of the world where satisfaction with housing options and prices is higher. "In 2024, a median of 43% across the OECD were satisfied with the availability of good, affordable housing in their areas, compared with 50% in the rest of the world," Gallup said, with Estonia the sole OECD member-state to report satisfaction above 50% and last year seeing steep declines in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the US, among other countries. That said, 38% of people asked in non-OECD countries said they worried about being able to make rent or otherwise ensure they could afford a place to live over the coming 12 months, significantly more than the 11% who aired similar concerns in the OECD 38. "In higher-income countries, people may feel dissatisfied not necessarily because they're homeless or on the brink, but because they perceive a decline in housing relative to what they believe should be available," Gallup surmised. "The more satisfied a person is with housing, the more likely they are to feel personal freedom, to feel safe walking alone in their area and to be more approving of their country's leadership," the pollster said, adding that "housing satisfaction" has been found to be "closely linked to lower levels of stress" and the perception that they are "thriving."
Middle East Eye
30-04-2025
- Business
- Middle East Eye
'Waste wars': Turkey's plastic recycling industry is slowly dying
As more countries and companies ban single-use plastics, recycled plastic manufacturing has shifted from Europe to lower-cost countries like Turkey. However, this $33bn global industry sets high quality standards that favour large manufacturers. Turkey's pivot to exporting secondary plastics has been disrupting its recycling ecosystem. 'We have a waste war here,' said Cesur Caca, communications director of Pagev, Turkey's major plastics industrialists' group. 'It's as valuable as oil - or even more,' he said, noting the added 'prestige' of helping combat climate change. Pagev's recycling arm, Pagcev, and other large producers aim to make Istanbul 'a global hub for recycling'. While their main competitors are high-tech recyclers in Europe, Europe is also their biggest customer. Turkey exports hundreds of thousands of tonnes of plastic-based goods - from car parts to food containers - to the EU, which makes the country the continent's second-largest plastic producer after Germany. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters However, many of these exports face a looming ban unless they contain at least 25 percent recycled material, per new EU regulations on packaging and automotive industries. This spurred a wave of public and private investment in Turkey's recycling infrastructure, raising its capacity to 1.5 million tonnes annually, expected to triple by 2030. Yet, plants are running far below capacity. Turkey lacks enough high-quality plastic waste to meet demand. Not only do consumers use relatively less plastic, but little of it can be processed. Since the 1970s, only certain polymers have been recyclable, and they cannot be mixed or contaminated. 'Waste colonialism' Global recycling rates remain low, just 9 percent, leading some researchers to claim plastic recycling is largely a 'myth', sustained by oil and gas lobbies to maintain plastic consumption. To fill the gap, Turkey imports plastic waste, mainly from the UK and Germany, which sent 315,000 tonnes in 2023. But these countries keep the highest quality waste for their own use. Only about one-third of imported waste is converted into reusable raw material; the rest is burned or buried in landfills. 'The EU is a bit hypocritical about the circular economy' - Sedat Gundogdu, microplastics researcher 'The EU is a bit hypocritical about the circular economy,' said Sedat Gundogdu, a microplastics researcher at Cukurova University. He calls the practice 'waste colonialism'. A 2023 OECD ban on waste exports to non-OECD countries, introduced in response to public outcry, does not apply to Turkey. While the US and Europe are closing plants domestically as a result of cost-cutting clients and environmentalist campaigns, companies continue expanding operations in Turkey. Similar mounting pressure pushed Turkey's Ministry of Trade to ban plastic waste imports in 2021, but Pagev successfully lobbied to lift it in favour of stricter regulations, such as tracking and regulating the imports with a chip. Waste recyclers shuttered New rules require importers to guarantee payment of at least 100 Turkish lira per tonne and ensure waste contains less than 1 percent foreign material. Many small and mid-sized recyclers, unable to meet documentation or equipment standards, have been forced to downsize or to shut down. Meanwhile, global virgin polymer prices have dropped due to coinciding factors such as falling demand, oil price fluctuations, and disrupted shipping routes. But inflation in Turkey continues to soar. Emir Yasar, who operates an informal granule facility in Istanbul, said he struggles to cover rising costs for utilities, gas and labour, while plastic pellet prices stay flat. He estimates a quarter of similar facilities in his area have closed. Still, large recycling plants continue relying on informal sorters like this to maintain supply. 'They're trying to bankrupt the black market, but they're not building something to replace it' - Ali Mendillioglu, Recyclers Workers Association Municipalities, responsible for collecting waste, are in the same trap. 'That's the municipality's main issue,' said Cigdem Kara, head of Atasehir's Climate Change and Zero Waste Department. 'It makes it harder for us to carry out our bidding [for contracted collectors].' For years, municipalities cracked down on unregistered warehouses and undocumented waste pickers, who collect and sort the large majority of waste in Turkey, even deporting thousands of Afghan workers. But as waste collection becomes less profitable, some municipalities like Atasehir are becoming more lenient, proposing formalisation of the unregistered sector. This would mean lower earnings for pickers, but cheaper production for industrialists, who support the move. 'They're trying to bankrupt the black market,' said Ali Mendillioglu, head of the Recyclers Workers Association, a waste pickers group that is negotiating with Kara, 'but they're not building something to replace it.' Municipal investment in recycling infrastructure remains low, just 5 percent of their budgets, far short of the 20 to 50 percent recommended by the World Bank for effective management. Encouraging residents to recycle Kara noted that budgets could have been higher if revenues from deposit-return schemes hadn't been rerouted from local to national accounts in 2020. Efforts led by Turkey's first lady and supported by EU programmes like DEEP are encouraging residents to sort waste at home, but results remain modest. Migrants recycling Istanbul's waste fear losing their jobs Read More » The Turkey Environment Agency, the government body overseeing recycling of plastic, glass and aluminium, told MEE that it had been encouraging the local population to recycle. It launched a deposit return system this year aiming to collect 20 billion recyclable items, including plastic and glass bottles and cans. The pilot programme began in Sakarya in March and has already collected 750,000 items through deposit return machines, 65 percent of which were plastic bottles. The ministry plans to install 4,500 machines nationwide this year, each offering a $0.02 refund per item returned. 'If the EU really wanted to protect the environment, it wouldn't do this,' said Mendillioglu, adding that much more investment is needed in Turkey for the whole supply chain to adapt to its high quality standards. Turkey had previously delayed ratifying the Paris Agreement, demanding recognition as a developing country to access more climate funding, which ended up being merely a symbolic move. Similar demands have also slowed the UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations. Middle-income countries like Malaysia and Mexico, which invested heavily in recycled plastics, are now facing the same harsh market realities. Some may end up ditching recycling altogether. The demand for recycled plastic is now stalling as manufacturers revert to cheaper virgin materials. Only China and India - with higher plastic consumption and lower quality standards - remain resilient in the global recycling race.
Arab News
15-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan rank as top solar markets in 2024: report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has joined the ranks of the world's leading solar markets, importing 17 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels last year alone, according to the Global Electricity Review 2025 by Ember, an energy think tank in the UK. In 2024, for the first time, solar power supplied more than 2,000 TWh of electricity, increasing by 474 TWh (+29 percent) from the previous year. This was the largest increase in generation from any power source in 2024. It took 8 years for solar to go from 100 TWh to 1,000 TWh of power — and then just 3 years to pass 2,000 TWh, meaning that solar has now been the largest source of new electricity globally for three years in a row. Solar is now so cheap that large markets can emerge in the space of a single year – as evidenced in Pakistan in 2024. Amid high electricity prices linked to expensive contracts with privately-owned thermal power stations, rooftop solar installations in Pakistan's homes and businesses soared as a means of accessing lower cost power. 'The country imported 17 GW of solar panels in 2024 to meet this growing consumer demand, double the amount imported the year before,' the Global Electricity Review 2025 said. 'Within just a year, Pakistan became one of the world's largest markets for new solar installations in 2024.' Pakistan's case shows that the low-cost, fast-to-build nature of solar power can transform electricity systems at an unprecedented rate. Updated system planning and regulatory frameworks are needed alongside this deployment to ensure a sustainable and managed transition. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia imported 16 GW in 2024, more than double the amount imported the year before. Oman saw the largest percentage growth in imports in the region, with 2.5 GW of imports in 2024 representing a fivefold increase from the year before. South Africa imported 3.8 GW of solar panels in 2024, following a record-breaking 2023 when 4.3 GW were imported as consumers turned to the technology amid rising blackouts. Nigeria and Morocco imported 1.3 GW and 1.1 GW respectively, marking the first time that either country has imported more than 1 GW in a single year. The expansion of solar power is a worldwide phenomenon, with 99 countries doubling the amount of electricity they produce from solar power in the last five years. The majority of solar generation now comes from non-OECD countries (58 percent), with China alone making up 39 percent of the global total. Increases in generation have been achieved thanks to the pace of capacity additions, the Global Electricity Review said. The world installed a record 585 gigawatts of solar capacity last year – 30 percent more than in 2023, and more than double the amount installed in 2022. Having surpassed 1 TW of solar power in 2022, it took only two years to install the next 1 TW. 'This is not just unprecedented for solar power – it is a rate of growth that no power source has seen before. In fact, the solar capacity installed in 2024 is more than the annual capacity installations of all fuels combined in any year before 2023,' the Global Electricity Review 2025 report added. As solar's share of the global electricity mix has risen to 6.9 percent of global generation in 2024, some countries are showing it is possible to incorporate much larger amounts. There are now 21 countries that generate more than 15 percent of their electricity from solar power, up from just three countries five years ago.
