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Rabat – Morocco is set to reduce the filing requirements for investors by 45% starting in 2023, the Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform Ghita Mezzour said on Monday.
According to Mezzour, her ministry has worked with regional investment centers (CRI), to facilitate the administrative processes related to investment activities in Morocco.
Speaking at a public hearing session at the country’s house of representatives, the minister noted that the platform “Cri-invest” has been updated to reduce the volume of documents required for investors.
She further added that her ministry has so far held meetings with officials in nine regions to guide them on how to implement the new simplified administrative procedures before the official launch of the platform.
Bureaucracy in Morocco is a major hurdle that is slowing down the flow of investments and affecting the creation of new businesses.
A report from startup-focused media Techcabal singles out bureaucracy as a prime factor behind Morocco’s suboptimal startup ecosystem. The report maintains that Morocco has a “killer administrative process.”
Besides hindering the growth of the startup ecosystem, bureaucracy in the country is equally standing in the way of major economic reforms, argues the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis, a think tank.
Morocco has attempted to address some of the structural barriers to investments through administrative reforms; the country even has a ministry tasked with administrative reforms.
In recent years, the North African country worked to decentralize and digitize administrative processes in a bid to make them more accessible.
Despite the continuous efforts to reform public administration, it still suffers from a number of structural deficiencies.
Research suggests that the Moroccan administration, as of 2022, is characterized by “weakness in performance and in the quality of services provided to citizens,” and “failure to respond to citizens’ complaints and inquiries.”
In addition, Morocco’s public administration is plagued with the “excessive” use of power and influence, the “complexity” of procedures, and “long deadlines” for the issuance of some administrative documents.
Read Also: Morocco’s Annual Financial Plan to Support Administrative Reform
