Towards a Shakeup of Regional Investment Centers

Morocco’s regional investment centers that are supposed to assist investors, both national and foreign, and to facilitate the paperwork for the setting up of projects will be restructured after an audit revealed many dysfunctions preventing these centers from fulfilling their mission properly.

The results of the audit were presented Monday to King Mohammed VI by President of the Court of Auditors Driss Jettou at a meeting attended by the Head of Government, the Minister of the Interior and advisor to the king Fouad Ali El Himma.

The audit, commissioned by the King on October 24, to assess the operations of the centers, known in Morocco as CRIs, revealed that there are many dysfunctions preventing these centers from fulfilling their missions in accordance with the royal letter of January 9, 2002, said a statement released by the Royal Office.

The CRIs fail to ensure a sound follow-up of newly created companies, grant little aid to small and medium-sized enterprises, in addition to the absence of studies and accurate data on the investments and the economic potential of the various Moroccan regions, found out the audit, which also pinpointed the low efficiency of the regional investment commissions.

The audit recommended that IRCs must abandon the bureaucratic approach characterizing their work and show industriousness in settling the issues submitted to them locally, rather than unjustifiably sending the investors back to central decision-making headquarters. They should also be proactive, and interact with the investors.

To remedy this situation, the king gave instructions to the Head of Government to work with all the parties concerned to draft proposals for the reform of the CRIs within two months.

The reform would seek to enable the CRIs to play their role in encouraging and promoting investment and exploiting the investment opportunities offered by the national economy, the Royal Office statement said.

The king also insisted on the need to train the directors of these centers and the different managers who work there so that they are up to the missions assigned to them and that they meet Morocco’s development challenges at the local and national levels.