Mr. Mohamed BENCHAABOUN, Minister of Economy and Finance participated in Rabat, Friday, December 7th 2018, at the 10th meeting of the National Committee for Business Environment (CNEA).
The promotion of investment relies upon a good public-private partnership, stressed the Minister at this meeting. He stated that starting from 2019, a budget of 12 billion dirhams (MMDH) will be allocated to investment within the framework of this partnership.
For achieving the Top 50 of the "Doing business" ranking by 2021, the government is working at reducing payment delays, clearing VAT credits, simplifying procedures and dematerialization, he specified.
The relaunch of the privatization project is also on the agenda in order to boost the stock market and to be provided with the necessary tools to achieve development projects, he added.
On the legal level, the government is preparing texts of legislation with a view to provide a flexible framework and promote public-private partnership by setting up a new investment charter, reforming the Regional Investment Centers (CRI) and establishing a legislation specific to SMEs that will bring together all the incentive provisions implemented by Morocco, stated Mr. BENCHAABOUN.
In addition, the Minister indicated that the VAT credit has increased from 40 billion dirhams to 8 billion dirhams only and that the government is working towards the final clearance of the VAT credit balances before 2018 as of next year.
As for the institutionalization of the Observatory of payment deadlines, the Minister stressed that this body will deal with the deadlines of payments of the State for firms as well as payments between companies which sometimes prove to be " more problematic ".
For this purpose, he recalled that the establishment of the "AJAL" platform more than a month ago enables to submit complaints about payment deadlines. He pointed out that the State has already processed and settled more than 70% of complaints.
Alongside other activities, the CNEA, whic was established in 2010, ensures the adoption of international norms and standards, the improvement of the legal and regulatory framework of business and its implementation. Chaired by the Head of Government, the CNEA aims to set up and share a common vision of reforms and identify priority projects for the private sector development.