Morocco's Commitment to Enhancing the Investment Climate
The recent parliamentary session highlighted Morocco's dedication to improving its business environment and attracting productive investments. During a public question session, Minister Karim Zidan emphasized the importance of this topic, stating that enhancing the business climate is not merely about administrative procedures or technical reforms; rather, it represents a strategic initiative essential for bolstering the competitiveness of the national economy. In an era of intense global competition for investment in promising sectors, Morocco has made tangible advancements through structural and institutional reforms mandated by royal directives.
Strategic Roadmap for Investment Enhancement
According to Zidan, the new investment charter marks a qualitative shift by prioritizing business climate improvement as one of its core components. This approach aims to establish a comprehensive system to stimulate investment and leverage regional capabilities. To realize this objective, the government has laid out a strategic roadmap for the period from 2023 to 2026, which incorporates a collaborative approach between the public and private sectors, as well as the banking sector. Central to this roadmap are critical aspects such as improving the structural conditions for investment, enhancing national competitiveness, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, and upholding ethical values, integrity, and corruption prevention.
The Minister revealed that the roadmap includes ten key projects and 46 initiatives, with an impressive 98% activation rate and 72% actual implementation. Noteworthy initiatives include adopting a new framework to facilitate access for very small, small, and medium-sized enterprises to public contracts, streamlining payment deadlines, and establishing a list of administrative decisions necessary for investment that are processed within a maximum of 30 days. Further enhancements include vital laws related to industrial zones, self-produced electricity, crowdfunding, and the establishment of companies through electronic means.
Moreover, Zidan emphasized that simplifying procedures is fundamental to alleviating burdens on businesses. The simplification of 22 administrative decisions has led to an average reduction of 45% in required documentation for investors. These reductions vary across different categories, such as a 60% decrease in project acceptance documents, a 50% reduction in land mobilization, a 33% cut in building permits, and a 45% drop in exploitation licenses. Furthermore, the administrative decentralization of 16 decisions has been activated to ensure swift regional processing, alongside ongoing improvements to the CRI Invest platform, aimed at digitizing investment pathways and ensuring transparency.
In conclusion, Zidan mentioned that the ministry is currently focused on enhancing and streamlining 15 comprehensive investment pathways, selected based on their potential to create job opportunities and attract private investments across all regions of the kingdom. Comprehensive guides for these pathways have been prepared to provide investors with clear insights into legal and technical stages, highlighting the pivotal role of unified regional investment committees that, since January 2025, have been responsible for approving projects valued at under 250 million dirhams. This initiative significantly fosters local economic dynamism.
As reported by hespress.com.
