Completed in 1993, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the largest religious monument in the world after Mecca, with space for 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 outside.

f one were to draw a straight line from Washington to Casablanca, the distance would be a whopping 3,794 miles. An Arab-Berber country in North Africa with a population of 33.7 million, Morocco is not featured regularly in the U.S. media. And yet, almost without knowing it, Americans have a soft spot for Morocco.

One of the oldest and most faithful friends of the U.S., Morocco was the first nation to recognize American independence in 1777. A historic Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship was signed by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1783, followed by a trade agreement four years later. Anecdotally, the first property owned by the U.S. government overseas was the consulate in Tangiers. Today, the historic building houses the American Legation Museum. The signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) in June 2004 has further cemented ties.

The love affair between both countries may have more to do with Hollywood, however. The 1942 film classic Casablanca by Michael Curtiz left audiences in the U.S. forever smitten. So much so that it is difficult to write about Morocco without conjuring up the smoky scenes at Rick’s bar, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman at the piano. In 1982, Time magazine’s Lance Morrow spoke of the movie as practically embedded in the American collective unconscious. According to him, the enduring grip of Casablanca was its casting, from the bartender to the croupier. Fetching up the name of the pianist is easy even for those who have never seen the film. It was immortalized in the final dialogue: “Play it once, Sam. For old time’s sake.”

Today, the Casablanca legacy endures. As of September 2007, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe were filming a spy thriller titled Body of Lies in an undisclosed location in Morocco. In the film, DiCaprio plays a former journalist turned CIA field officer tasked with tracking an Al Qaeda operative. Ahmed Hatimi is the assistant director on location in Morocco. Other Hollywood productions that have used Morocco for production include features such as Babel, the 2006 film with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Pop culture has even come up with a name for Morocco’s nascent film industry: “Hollyoued”, with the -oued ending denoting a river bed in Arabic.

“The relationship between Morocco and the U.S. is 230-years-old. During the Cold War, we were pretty much on the same side, while most other countries in the region were not. So let’s say we go way back,” says Azziz Mekouar, Morocco’s Ambassador to the U.S. He is quick to add that the special relationship has been anchored because of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

The 2003 bombings of a Jewish Community Center and a Spanish social club in Casablanca further mobilized the government of King Mohammed VI to ward off extremist elements in Moroccan society. Suddenly, policymakers in Washington realized the importance of partnering with Rabat. In 2004, Morocco was declared a major non-NATO ally. In the last two decades, strutural reforms have breathed new life into the economy. High growth rates have been achieved since 2000, accompanied by low inflation. Even seven years ago, the Moroccan stock exchange was the most open market in the region. From 1993 to 2000, more than 50 companies were privatized, prompting a 300 percent increase in U.S. investment.

George Bush receiving “a great friend” at the White House, in 2002. King Mohammed’s last official visit in the U.S. took place in 2004, for the signing of the FTA agreement.

Following parliamentary elections in September 2007, King Mohammed VI named Abbas El-Fassi, a lawyer and former diplomat, as the country’s new prime minister. A member of the conservative Istiqlal Party, Prime Minister El-Fassi will guide Morocco through integration into the global economy. “We had 8.1 percent economic growth in 2006. We need to have what happened to Spain and Portugal in the 1980s and 1990s. We need at least 7 percent GDP growth per year over the next decade,” says Mr. Mekouar. Sustaining growth involves making the legal framework as friendly as possible for investors and offering a stable macroeconomic environment. The ambassador lists the latest numbers from the ministry of finance: 8.1 percent GDP growth, a budget deficit of only 1.6 percent of GDP, $6.6 billion from tourism, $5.7 billion in workers’ remittances and a rise in international reserves. “The macro indicators are good. But you do not become business friendly just by mentioning macro indicators. You do that by offering low taxes, a skilled workforce and simple bureaucracy,” says Mr. Mekouar.

Bilateral trade amounted to $1.4 billion in 2006, mostly in exports of aircraft, cereals, electrical machinery and minerals. Currently, Morocco is the 89th largest trading partner for Washington. It is a low-income country with few natural resources. Its GDP was $152.2 billion (PPP) in 2006. In August 2007, Morocco signed a five-year $697.5 million loan agreement designed to stimulate sustainable economic growth with the U.S.-based Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC). “Moroccans have demonstrated their commitment to creating opportunity in their country by developing a results-oriented program which reflects their priorities for poverty reduction and growth,” said MCC CEO Ambassador John Danilovich during the signing ceremony.

Why is Morocco attracting so much interest? It is not only the profitable FTAs, but the country’s main economic asset: its proximity to Europe. Just eight miles from Spain and 36 hours by truck to any European capital, geography could finally pay off. American investors would do well by reversing their marketing strategies vis-à-vis the EU. “With the FTA, you can produce in Morocco and sell in the U.S. or Europe—completely duty-free,” says Mr. Mekouar.