Employment is at the forefront of the government’s concerns… and investments are achieving a record high

“The government is keen to reconcile the increasing volume of financial expenditures and enhance the effectiveness of public performance.” The statement here came from the Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, stating that he was “keen since the beginning of the term” that was embodied through practical measures, most notably “deepening the reform of the balance sheet, and continuing to adopt a comprehensive and integrated approach based on results, to actually respond to the challenges presented by allocating exceptional financial resources and putting Voluntary and proactive choices.”

Akhannouch, who took the podium of the House of Representatives, on Monday evening, answering pivotal questions from the parliamentary teams during a monthly accountability session related to public policy to discuss “government reforms aimed at stimulating the investment system and enhancing employment dynamism,” said that “the National Investment Committee approved draft agreements worth 241 billion AED, it will create 140,000 jobs.”

He added that “the current National Investments Committee (the Investments Committee in a previous version) through the meetings held has reached a very honorable outcome, achieving unprecedented results,” according to his description.

The Prime Minister explained that “the committee serves as the pivotal lever that made it possible to give a strong impetus to private investment and improve its governance,” highlighting that his government “aspires, through this committee, to positively undertake the tasks of implementing the axes of the new investment charter, building a competitive economic model, and providing a suitable environment for investors.” .

These results, according to Akhannouch, were represented by “holding 12 sessions of the Investments Committee, during which 199 draft agreements and agreement annexes were approved, with a total financial value exceeding 241 billion dirhams, aspiring to create approximately 140,000 direct and indirect job positions.”

The government official, citing the holding of 5 sessions within the framework of the National Investment Committee emanating from the new Investment Charter, “enabled the approval of 115 projects, with a total value of 173 billion dirhams, which will enable the creation of more than 96 thousand direct and indirect jobs.”

He concluded that these results “clearly demonstrate that the new investment charter was accompanied by a package of integrated measures, which granted private investment its expected field effectiveness, whose effects extended immediately on the operating dynamism, and gave Moroccan enterprise a new breath,” giving significant indicators of “national capital covering 69% of Investment bloc of agreements approved during the last five meetings.”

“Rationalizing expenses and doubling resources”

“The government is working to intensify efforts to rationalize expenditures, double resources, and direct them towards areas with the greatest economic and social impact,” says Akhannouch, in particular mentioning “implementing the comprehensive and strategic reform of the public institutions and contracting sector,” which was one of the most prominent outcomes of the Ministerial Council held on June 1.

He detailed that “the government is working in line with the royal directives to improve governance and the vital importance of the public institutions and contracting sector within the management system,” acknowledging the necessity of “increasing the effectiveness of its interventions and addressing its structural imbalances,” noting that “improving the performance of the state’s contributory policy, whose strategic directions the government presented to the King “This is the structural priority that these workshops have in the government’s work.”

The government seeks, according to its president in his explanations to representatives, “to review the economic models of public enterprises and institutions, by activating the role of the National Agency for the strategic management of state contributions, and enhancing its positive contribution in terms of wealth creation, investment returns, and the production of quality public services.”

Flow of “foreign direct investment”

“The flow of foreign direct investments into the Kingdom has achieved an important development since the beginning of the current year, reaching 13.1 billion dirhams at the end of April (2024), a record number that the Kingdom has never seen before,” considering that it is “a direct reflection of a government vision about stimulating investment and deepening the reforms that… We worked to consolidate it, in the direction of strengthening Morocco’s position globally and placing it at the forefront of global investment destinations.”

Akhannouch continued in his speech: “The government is working, in implementation of the royal instructions, to shape the features of Moroccan leadership in the fields of the future, especially by keeping pace with the comprehensive transformation in the energy sector, and accelerating the implementation of… [عرض المغرب] For green hydrogen,” which was harnessed to “the necessary real estate resources and the provision of high-level infrastructure and technical and human expertise, in line with the needs of investors and the Kingdom’s competitive effectiveness in this sector with rising prospects.”

This dynamism was also evident, according to the Prime Minister, in “bringing in a group of investment projects of a strategic nature, the most recent of which was the historic signing (last week) of an agreement to create an integrated industrial unit for the production of electric car batteries.”

Akhannouch described this experience as “unique of its kind in the Middle East and Africa region,” and “with a total investment cost of 12.8 billion dirhams, it will enable the creation of 17,000 direct and indirect jobs, including 2,300 highly qualified jobs (specialized engineers and technicians). ).

Figures for “recovery of productive sectors”

Akhannouch’s speech was not without mentioning “the positive trend that characterized the government’s work to stimulate promising sectoral dynamics in our country, especially the successes achieved in the fields of tourism, industry, handicrafts and agriculture,” recalling “the increase in the volume of Moroccan exports and the strengthening of the Moroccan brand.” [صنع في المغرب]This is reflected in the increase in the Kingdom’s exports during the past year to 43 billion dollars.”

He also spoke about “the rise in exports of productive sectors, from the automobile industry, the aviation industry, railways, and ships, all the way to renewable energies, in addition to electronic materials, the food industries, and the textile and leather industries,” and said that this “tangibly confirms the merit of government work in these vital sectors.”

The Prime Minister recorded “a qualitative transition in the tourism sector, which attracted more than 14.5 million tourists with record revenues amounting to more than 105 billion dirhams, which had a direct contribution to achieving an actual take-off of the sector and attracting high proportions of the workforce specialized in the hotel and tourism professions.” “.

Employment is the government’s top concern

Akhannouch, in his speech to the nation’s representatives, reiterated that “the second half of the government’s term will constitute a fertile field for doubling sectoral efforts, exploiting the opportunities available to our country, and aspiring to an integrated societal project that combines all the ingredients for success.”

“The government has spared no effort in keeping pace with the needs related to the labor market, and in raising the standard of living of Moroccan families in a way that makes them able to respond to the requirements of life and overcome its challenges,” says the Prime Minister, continuing that “this government conviction is renewed out of our belief in the issue of employment, in all its dimensions.” Social and institutional, it will occupy a prominent position during the remainder of the life of this government.”

“The building blocks of fiscal justice”

In a related context, Akhannouch recalled “the government’s success in laying the basic building blocks for achieving fiscal justice, by expanding the tax base without increasing the fiscal pressure on the national entrepreneurial fabric.”

He stressed that the government has begun “to implement the aspects of the framework law related to tax reform, as it is the basic channel for achieving tax justice, and granting investors and enterprises simplified, transparent and stimulating tax conditions for productive and entrepreneurial activities, especially reforms related to the value-added tax and the integration of the informal sector.”

He also referred to “reducing the tax burden on enterprises, by unifying the corporate tax rate at 20% by the year 2026 instead of 31%, as well as gradually raising the tax rates for large companies to reach 35% for companies whose net profits exceed 100 million dirhams.” And 40% for credit and insurance institutions and bodies considered to be the same.”