The attractiveness of Morocco (competitiveness, favorable business climate, model of economic growth with high added value and multi-sector, protection of foreign investment, emergence of a middle class, commercial, industrial and technological platform for other African countries and countries Middle East, …) offers many business opportunities for all types of companies, in all sectors of activity and in particular those promoted by the sectoral strategies of the Moroccan public authorities:
Sectors | Strategy | Tragets |
Industry | National Pact for Industrial Emergence (PNEI) | Development of Morocco’s Global Professions (offshoring, follow-up of the National Acceleration Plan for Cars, Electronics, Aeronautics, Textiles and Leather, Industrial Agri-Food, IMME, Chemistry-Parachemistry, Pharmaceutical) and Development 22 Integrated Industrial Platforms (P2I).
Creation of industrial ecosystems, reduction of the weight of the informal, creation of an industrial development fund. |
Agriculture | Morocco Vert (Green) | Development of a modern and comeptitive agriculture |
Tourism | Vision 2020 | Development of several wellness and spas areas.
Promotion of sustainable tourism and niche. |
Commerce | Rawaj | Provide the consumer with a diversified and quality product offer / Support the actors in their development. |
Fishing | Halieutis | Valorisation of fishery products and modernization of production units. |
New Technologies | Maroc Numeric 2022 | Extension of the Maroc Numeric 2013 plan for the deployment and boosting of information and communication technologies. |
Logistic | National logistics strategy | Development of multi-flow logistic zones. |
Energie | Energy Plan 2030 | Promotion of renewable energies and energy efficiency. |
History: State Foundation in 789, Independence in 1956.
Administrative and cultural references:
- Constitutional, democratic, parliamentary and social monarchy, organized in twelve regions, led by a wali and a Regional Council.
- Head of State and Commander of the Faithful: King Mohammed VI (inducted July 30, 1999)
- Head of Government: Mr. Saad Eddine El Othmani (appointed since April 5, 2017)
- 2 main political parties out of 12: Party of Justice and Development, Party authenticity and modernity
- Religion (s): Sunni Islam of Maliki Rite (99%), Christianity, Judaism (1%)
- Official languages (Arabic and Amazigh) and business languages (mainly French, English and Spanish)
- National motto: God, Fatherland, King
- National Day: July 30 (Feast of the Throne)
- Currency: Moroccan dirham 1 euro = ± 11.1 MAD
- GMT + 1h in summer
Geography: area of 710,850 km2, (Spain: 504,030 km2, France: 675,000 km2), density of 50 inhabitants / km2, mountainous areas 25% of the territory, 3446 km of coastline, on the Mediterranean Sea 512 km and the Atlantic Ocean 2934 km
Demographics: Population: 35 million, 55% urban and 45% rural, 1.5% growth, life expectancy: 76 years, literacy rate: 67.1% (84% for 15-24 year olds) years)
Economy: The Moroccan economy depends on the performance of the agricultural sector and the economic situation of the European Union. The primary sector remains to this day the first “employer of the country”. It is estimated that around 40.5% of the labor force depends on this industry, which accounted for 16.5% of GDP in 2013.
The secondary sector (accounting for 28.5% of GDP) is driven by phosphate mining and processing activities. Morocco is in a very advantageous position as the country owns three-quarters of the world’s reserves.
Finally, the tertiary sector accounts for 54.8% of GDP. Today, the share of tertiary activities in total value added has increased and accounts for most of the country’s productive fabric. GDP: 110 billion $ increase + 5,17% (62nd), Unemployment rate: 10% of the active population, 98% of international trade of Morocco is carried out by sea representing a global traffic of approximately 100 million tons of goods, Morocco’s main export products are made-up garments, wires and cables for electricity, phosphates and phosphate derivatives and, more recently, automobiles and aeronautics, Moroccan imports mainly concern energy products (petroleum, hydrocarbons), semi-processed products, capital goods and wheat.
Main cities:
- Rabat (Political and Administrative Capital of the Kingdom, Imperial City, 0, 6 M / hab)
- Casablanca (economic capital, industrial pole of the country, 3, 4 M / hab),
- Fez (spiritual and knowledge capital, imperial city, 1,1 M / hab),
- Tangier (1st free zone, largest commercial port Tanger Med and Tangier Med II, 4 industrial zones, including 1 free zone TFZ, 1 M / hab),
- Salé (City near Rabat, international airport, 0.85 M / hab)
- Marrakech (imperial city, 1st tourist city of the kingdom, 0.93 M / hab),
- Meknes (Imperial City, agricultural capital, 0, 632 M / inhabitant),
- Kenitra (Technological Pole in development, 0.431 M / inhabitant),
- Agadir (agricultural city par excellence, the largest fishing port, 0, 5 M / hab)
Morocco, between tradition and modernity, has for many years displayed a constant strategy of openness and regional and international influence, as part of a global vision of peaceful growth, which makes it a very attractive country offering major assets:
- Competitive platform for export to 14 km from Europe!
- Free trade access to 55 countries on 5 continents, representing a market of over 1 billion consumers.
- A stable and secure country for a strong and growing economy (rising domestic demand, rising public and foreign investment, low inflation, declining debt and unemployment).
- Infrastructures to international standards: 11 ports, including the port of Tangier Med which has the ambition to become the first port of the Mediterranean, highway and rail network in extension, urban transport in development, 15 international airports, many Zones of Activities Economic (Integrated Industrial Platforms, free zones, agropoles, clusters …) and powerful telecommunications infrastructure with 19 million internet users.
- Ambitious sectoral strategies: modernization of traditional sectors (agriculture, fishing and mining) and development of innovative sectors (renewable energies, logistics, automotive, aeronautics and high added value services).
- A favorable business environment: Strengthening of legal certainty in general, protection and guarantee of investments (labor law, copyright, industrial property rights, freedom of prices and competition, protection of personal data, arbitration and conventional mediation), Simplification of administrative procedures for companies, creation of the National Committee for the Business Environment, the Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption, the Moroccan Office of Intellectual and Commercial Property and promotion of the charter on Corporate Social Responsibility, Incentive and open taxation, Industrial Development and Investment Fund, Exemption from import duty or VAT, possibility of repatriating profits, …
- Social and economic progress: development of the associative movement (currently 130,000 associations in Morocco), concern for human rights (government plan for equality and economic and political emancipation of women, fight against violence against women)
- Human, young, qualified and efficient capital
Member of major international organizations such as WTO (1995), UN (1956), IMF and World Bank, OECD Development Center Office, African Union (AU)
Has ratified the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement (2015)
Founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM) founded in Paris on July 31, 2008 and whose headquarters are in Barcelona.
Strengthened its political, social, cultural and economic relations with the European Union (ALECA), Morocco’s main trading partner with more than 60% of global exchanges
First African investor in the areas of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC – Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad) and the Economic Community of African States of West – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Mauritania as associate member and in 2017 the Morocco (ECOWAS)
For more than a decade, Africa has become a popular destination for Moroccan companies, with significant growth in some key investment sectors:
- Banks and Insurance
- Telecommunications
The African Development Bank (AfDB) intends to make the Kingdom of Morocco a reference model to put forward for the least developed African countries.
Here are some Moroccan companies that have managed to establish themselves in Africa and also outside the African continent:
- SAHAM $ 400 M (€ 298 M) – Finance, Offshoring and Healthcare, the group founded by Moulay Hafid Elalamy, the current Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and Digital Economy, has multiplied acquisitions operations on the continent is pursuing an expansion strategy oriented towards Africa and the Middle East.
- MAROC TELECOM, whose Moroccan State still holds 30% of the capital, is established in Mauritania, Mali, Gabon and Burkina Faso.
- ATTIJARIWAFA BANK, located in West Africa, Central Africa, Europe and China, is considered the first banking and financial group in the Maghreb and the first in Africa since 2013.
- BMCE Bank, the leading bank in terms of presence in Africa with more than 20 countries and also established in Europe, Asia and soon Abu Dhabi.
- CDG: The CDG Group strengthens its international network, the most important achievement of the group remains the creation of JAIDA, financing fund microcredit organizations, of which the CDG holds 45%.
- OCP: OCP (Office Chérifien du Phosphate), the world leader in phosphate (used mainly as a nitrogen fertilizer), with 5 billion euros and 20,000 employees represents 33% of Morocco’s exports.
- YNNA HOLDING (CHAÂBI GROUP), one of the oldest private industrial groups in Morocco.
- 8- OPTORG (turnover of 1000 M €, 2.540 employees, 29 countries of implementation), specialized in forestry, mining and petroleum equipment and distribution of industrial and private vehicles
- HPS, electronic transaction processing centers, including mobile phone payments, is active in more than 60 countries
- FINATECH, operates in infrastructures and networks, electronic payment …, offshoring partner of large companies wishing to subcontract their information system like Renault, Peugeot, Axa, …
The World Bank publishes every year a report on the business climate and the commercial activity of 190 countries of the world (unemployment rate, corruption, reforms to promote the establishment of foreign companies, …)
The Kingdom of Morocco is progressing steadily and is currently ranked 69 th (against 128 th in 2010) thanks to its progress in the following areas:
- Doing business 68 th / 190 countries
- Create a company 40 th / 190 countries
- The granting of a building permit 18 th / 190 countries
- Electricity connection 57 th / 190 countries
- Property Transfer 87th / 190 countries
- The protection of minority investors 87 th / 190 countries
- The payment of Taxes and Taxes 41 st / 190 countries
- Opportunities for cross-border trade 63 th / 190 countries
- Contract execution 57 th / 190 countries
Efforts are underway in the following areas:
- Obtaining Loans 101 th / 190 countries
- Insolvency settlement 131 th / 190 countries
Morocco continues to improve the business climate by adopting new laws aimed at improving the conditions for investment, labor, protection of copyright and industrial property, modernization and simplification of the tax system, and, the creation of an incentive scheme for investment incentives.
In the field of investment conditions:
- the liberalization of the economy: freedom of prices and competition under the control of the Competition Council.
- softening procedures: harmonizing Moroccan trade legislation with the international principles of arbitration and conventional mediation
- strengthening the protection of private operators
- Morocco has ratified international conventions relating to the guarantee and protection of investment (creation of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes “ICSID”, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency “AMGI”; the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Organization), agreements and conventions concern the treatment of admitted investments, the free transfer of capital and income, the non-expropriation of the investment, except for reasons of public utility and following a judicial decision (on a non-discriminatory basis and giving prompt and adequate compensation), settlement of disputes with recourse to domestic courts or international arbitration according to the choice of the investor, non-double taxation of income, the protection of the investor in the context of the right to nterne, the establishment of a convertibility regime that guarantees investors the full freedom to carry out investment operations in Morocco, the transfer of income from these investments, the re-transfer of liquidation proceeds or transfer of investments,
- the creation in 2009 of the National Committee for the Business Environment (CNEA) was created in December 2009, chaired by the head of government, composed of representatives of public and private sectors, has the mission to identify and implement measures to enhance the attractiveness of Morocco, in close collaboration with the Regional Committees for the Business Environment (CREA).
In the field of working conditions:
- Freedom of association and the effective adoption of the right to organize and to bargain collectively;
- Prohibition of all forms of forced labor
- The effective elimination of child labor;
- Prohibition of discrimination in employment and occupation;
- Equal pay
- The protection of personal data under the control of the National Commission for the Control of the Protection of Personal Data (CNDP)
In the field of copyright and the protection of industrial property, measures have also been adopted to:
- Strengthen and modernize the system of protection of the rights of creators, works and industrial property;
- Harmonize the national legislation with the commitments made by Morocco under the Treaties and International Agreements.
In the fiscal field, the desire to modernize, streamline and simplify Morocco is reflected in the adoption of the following measures:
- 3 main taxes, income tax (IR), corporate income tax (IS) and value added tax (VAT),
- Simple calculation scales, sometimes with specific rates and partial or total exemptions
Morocco has taken attractive measures of specific investment incentives in the form of financial, fiscal or customs benefits:
- Industrial Development and Investment Fund (FDII)
- Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development;
- exemption from customs duties
- exemption from VAT on importation
In addition, as part of the implementation of the “Industrial Acceleration Plan 2014-2020”, direct aid is granted:
- projects for the creation of industrial ecosystems or complementing the existing value chain either through direct investment or a JV and allowing the creation of stable jobs and providing training, R & D or technology transfer;
- projects to promote natural resources and waste
- projects aiming at the creation of design, development, testing and testing centers for industrial sectors.
Morocco has adopted the policy of 3 “S” – Security, Stability, and Flexibility – to raise its economy, increase its attractiveness for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), whose volume is constantly rising and already exceeds 4 billion d EUR:
- Established physical and institutional security: Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Moroccan authorities have worked to liberalize and guarantee foreign investment: the Investment Charter in 1995, investment protection and promotion agreements with 21 European countries, 9 African countries, 5 American countries and 15 Asian countries, double taxation agreements with many countries, regional integration process and free trade with the European Union, the United States, several Arab countries and Africa. France remains the largest investor in the Kingdom, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
- Consolidated macroeconomic and political stability: Considered by multilateral institutions, such as the IMF or the World Bank, as a “good student” in managing its macroeconomic framework, Morocco has chosen to undertake fundamental reforms to stabilize its macroeconomic stability. fiscal balances and strengthen resilience to external shocks. Guaranteeing this rise in power, Morocco’s trade deficit, structurally deficit, is at its lowest level in ten years in 2015, due to the dual combination of increased exports and falling commodity prices.
- Flexibility brought by sectoral plans: Since the mid-2000s, Morocco has been focusing on structuring sectoral plans – including the recent Industrial Acceleration Plan (PAI) – which have enabled the country to redefine its industrial vocation and position itself as an important link on the global value chain of the automotive, aeronautical, electronic or Offshoring sectors. Grouped into World Trade Morocco (MMM), these sectors have contributed significantly to Moroccan growth over the past decade, with an average close to 5%. At the heart of this strategy, adaptability and flexibility to offer investments the most appropriate framework through including an integrated package of tax incentives and support by the state projects.
- A favorable business climate
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