Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Reform of the Administration affirmed, Tuesday February 16th 2021 in Casablanca, that the transfers of Moroccans around the World (MRA) play an important role in the strengthening of the position of Morocco, since they have represented 6% of GDP on average over the past five years and covered around 35% of the trade deficit.
The Minister
who was speaking at a virtual meeting, organized by the General Confederation
of Enterprises of Morocco, around investment opportunities in Morocco,
specified that during the year 2020, while they recorded a decrease Important
at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, MRA transfers very quickly resumed their
usual trend during the following months. They were located in 2020 at + 5%
compared to 2019, i.e. 68 billion Dirhams or nearly 7.5 billion dollars. This
demonstrates, according to Mr. Benchaaboun, all the solidarity of the bond and
attachment of the diaspora to their country of origin.
In addition,
and by analysing the destination of these transfers, the Minister made three
observations:
The first
relates to the part reserved for savings, which is between 15 and 20% of MRA
transfers. The deposits thus constituted amount to more than 190 billion
Dirhams, or just under 20% of bank deposits;
The second
concerns the contribution of MRAs to economic and social development and to
improving the living conditions of the populations, since most of their
transfers are oriented towards solidarity and for families support.
Lastly, MRA
investments only represent 10% of transfers, 70% of which go to real estate. In
this context, attention was drawn to the reasons why Morocco does not benefit
from the investment potential of MRAs, in particular from the educated diaspora
in the most productive sectors and with high added value, in particular. when
the Kingdom has made enormous efforts to facilitate and encourage investment.
The lack of communication has thus been bridged as the first point of
improvement that needs to be addressed quickly.
Thus, the
Minister took the opportunity to enumerate three major recent reforms, in
connection with the act of investing, naturally benefiting MRAs. It is first of
all about the evolution of the business environment, noting that over the
years, the Kingdom continues to gain places in the Doing Business ranking where
it is positioned in 57th place. and could continue to improve this
ranking, with the reforms already under way. In this regard, he cited the Law
on Movable Securities, the Law on Crowdfunding, recently adopted by Parliament,
the great reform of Regional Investment Centers, initiated three years ago, and
Law 55-19, entered into force at the end of September 2020, which constitutes a
positive break in administrative procedures and the relationship between the
Administration and the user, in particular, the economic operator.
Furthermore,
and referring to the "MRA Invest" fund, created ten years ago to
encourage investments by Moroccans living abroad, the Minister announced the
review of this product in order to make it a tool. powerful, incentive for MRA investment.
This revision will be done in an open and concerted process.
Finally, the
Minister did not fail to recall the Royal Instructions for the launch of three
major projects which touch on economic and social aspects and concern the
exemplarity of the State. In this regard, we can cite the convention signed by
the Government, the CGEM and the GPBM in the form of a Pact for Growth and
Employment, the injection of 120 billion dirhams additional into the economy
and ultimately, the acceleration of the pace of investments as part of an
innovative approach adapted to the particularity of each project.