Sumitomo : MOU Concluded with Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco’s Largest Commercial Bank

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Kuniharu Nakamura), via its wholly-owned subsidiary Sumitomo Corporation Europe Limited (Head Office: London, UK; CEO: Bin Haga; hereinafter, 'SCEU'; the two companies hereinafter are collectively referred to as 'the Sumitomo Corporation Group'), has concluded a memorandum of understanding (hereinafter, 'MOU') with Morocco's largest commercial bank, Attijariwafa Bank (Head Office: Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco; Representative: Mohamed El Kettani; hereinafter, 'AWB'), for the purpose of considering jointly developing new business in Morocco and other African countries.

With a network extending across 25 countries primarily in Francophone Africa, AWB is Morocco's largest commercial bank and the core bank of the Société Nationale d'Investissement (hereinafter, 'SNI'), a large private Moroccan holding company mainly owned by the Moroccan royal family. With the conclusion of this MOU, the two parties will consider the pursuit of new business ventures, particularily in automobile manufacturing, infrastrcture, chemical manufacturing, mining, and agriculture, utilizing SNI, AWB's extensive network inside and outside Morocco, and the Sumitomo Corporation Group's corporate networks in various industries.

The Sumitomo Corporation Group has been active in Morocco since establishing its office in Casablanca in 1976. More recently, SCEU established a North Africa Business Promotion Working Group in May 2016 as a cross-sectional organization tasked with re-focusing on Morocco's potential.

Morocco offers one of Africa's most appealing investment environments, and it has concluded FTAs with more than 50 regions and countries, including the EU. The country is also garnering attention as a gateway sitting at a vital crossroads on routes between Europe, West Africa, North Africa and the Americas, and has successfully convinced one global company after another, primarily in the automotive and aviation industries, to set up manufacturing and export bases there.

Accordingly, the Sumitomo Corporation Group posted a full-time representative to its Casablanca Office on August 1 and will enforce its structure in Morocco.

The Sumitomo Corporation Group will continue undertaking new and further business development in Morocco and other African countries through collaboration with partner companies, thereby contributing to Africa's economic and industrial growth.