The Turkish retail store BIM (Bim Birlesik Magazalar AS) responds on February 12 to the Moroccan minister of industry Moulay Hafid Elalamy’s claim that it is forcing Moroccan merchants to close down and states that it buys 85 percent of its products from local producers.

In video that went viral on social media earlier this week, the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies Moulay Hafid Elalamy talked about Morocco’s trade deficit as a result of the free trade agreement signed with Turkey in 2004, which the ministry is currently reviewing.

The minister gave the example of the Turkish retail store BIM and he recounted that 5 years ago he summoned its president to express his objection at his retail store’s negative effects on small merchants in Morocco.

“I told him, ‘wherever you open a store, 60 merchants close down. What a coincidence.’” said the Minister.

In reaction to the statement of the Minister, BIM’s financial director Haluk Dortluoglu said that the store chain was called on by the ministry to increase the local products it sells in its stores to 50 percent when the local products represent 85 percent of its products already.

“We only send about 15 percent of our products sold in Morocco from Turkey. The rest, 85 percent, is purchased from local producers,” said Dortluoglu adding that BIM began a plan to increase the percentage of local products in its stores and will continue to do so.

BIM’s financial director went on to say that the retail store employs around 3000 people, the vast majority of which are Moroccans, and that the revenue of its 500 stores in Morocco represents only 5% of the company’s overall revenue.

BIM’s turnover in the first 9 months of 2019 alone amounted to 29.7 billion liras (4.93 billion dollars).

The Minister’s statements were criticized by Moroccan social media users who accused the minister of defending the interests of Moroccan hypermarkets that failed to compete against BIM’s low prices.