1. Nature (Characteristics) of the Moroccan EconomyMorocco, a country in northern Africa bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, has demonstrated improvements in its economic landscape in recent years. The country's gross domestic product for the year ending 2013 was $180 billion (in USD), representing an increase of $7.8 billion from 2012 and placing it 60th among global nations. world (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014, Economy). Gross domestic product is the value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014, References and Definitions). These figures prove that Morocco increased its production between 2012 and 2013, reinforcing the fact that the country's economy has shown signs of growth. In 2012 alone, the Moroccan economy grew by 3.2%, driven mainly by internal consumption and public investment (African Development Bank Group, 2014, para.1). Financing the economy and its growth remains a challenge, however, the government has already started looking at ways to increase investments within the country and develop strong relationships with other countries. The Moroccan economy is considered a market-oriented economy, where the economy operates through voluntary exchange among market members without being controlled by a central authority (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014, Economy, para.1). Thanks to the country's proximity to Europe and the Middle East, they were able to capitalize and use low labor costs to build an open market. Since the economy operates as an open market, foreign investors can take advantage of the economic landscape to establish a presence quite easily. Morocco has a government-mandated minimum wage of 10.1...... middle of paper ...... country officials hope the FTA will help speed up and stabilize the process of economic reform of the country by allowing more competition and the formation of business partnerships in a wide variety of key sectors (i.e. insurance and banking) (US-Morocco FTA, 2004, paragraph 1). Morocco is currently modernizing and globalizing, with an increase in government regulations relating to the labor code and an expansion of commercial courts and customs services. American companies are already active in Morocco. A colossal amount of $2.2 billion was invested in the country through the operation of 120 American companies, such as Fruit of the Loom and Dell (US-Morocco FTA, 2004, paragraph 3). The Morocco-United States FTA will lead to increased competition with European trading partners who must now take into account active and committed American operations..