Rabat – The Oriental Region Council has organized the first edition of Oriental Invest, an economic forum to encourage and promote investments by Moroccans Living Abroad (MRE) in the Oriental Region.
The forum, held May 5 and 6, was attended by about 250 distinguished personalities from Morocco and abroad and 60 MREs wishing to invest in the eastern part of the Kingdom.
The council established a budget of MAD 55 million as investment aid for the creation of companies by MREs.
“This is a down payment,” said council president Abdenebi Bioui. “This budget will be reserved for land acquisition and job creation. The specifications will be available on the website of the 13th region.”
The audience came to inquire about the investment opportunities in the eastern region, from which originates nearly 30 percent of the total Moroccan immigrant population in Europe, mainly in the Benelux countries, Germany, Spain and France. Funded by the European Union and the Oriental Region Council, this Forum is part of the Sharaka project, particularly the MRE Regional Initiatives Program in the Oriental region (Primo).
The Oriental Invest Forum aimed to restore the relationship of trust between the Moroccan investors of the world and their region of origin as an economic partner and in addition to create a network of investors and businessmen between the two shores of the Mediterranean, thanks in particular to the newly set-up investment offer.
The first edition of the forum thus enabled the creation of 12 investment projects in agro-industry, textiles, nanotechnologies, offshoring and aquaculture, including the signatures of five memoranda of understanding.
With the aim of consolidating efforts to establish a new framework for cooperation between the institutions and MREs from the Oriental Region as a major player in the development and promotion of investment, this event was an opportunity to better realize the initiatives of the Oriental region in this matter, and this by the signing of a number of agreements whose object will be the granting of subsidies to the benefit of investors.
The region of the Oriental lies in the heart of a strategic space. Oujda, the capital of the region, is equidistant from Casablanca, Madrid, Algiers, Tunis and Marseille, with an opening on the Mediterranean of over 200 kilometers. The region also features substantial transport infrastructure. It has three airports, Oujda Angad, Nador-Laroui and Bouarfa, and is also served by motorway and railway networks.
