Investment system in Morocco is very open as investors do not have to obtain prior approval: they simply have to send the Foreign Exchange Office a report in the six months following the completion of the operation.
Morocco has concluded agreements with 51 countries including France, Spain, Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Portugal, Tunisia and Turkey for guarantee of overseas investments against every risk of nationalization and compulsory purchase.
Morocco launched a vast project of economic modernization program (Industrial Acceleration Plan 2014-2020) to attract more FDI. Casablanca in particular aims to become an international financial center. The construction of Ouarzazate Solar Power Station, expected to become the largest solar plant in the world with a total capacity of 510MW upon completion, is one of the largest infrastructure investments, not only in Morocco but in the whole of Africa. Quantum Global ranked Morocco as the most attractive country for foreign investment in Africa in its Africa Investment Index 2018. Furthermore, Morocco is ranked 60th out of 190 economies by the World Bank in its Doing Business 2019 report, gaining nine spots compared to 2018, and up by 34 spots from 2012.
Morocco is getting the trust of the international financing institution through the loans and grants getting from them. During the last months, the kingdom had gotten support to reform its education, for its social economic development, and for helping young entrepreneurs to do their own business.
World Bank Support preprimary education in Morocco
The World Bank gives new US $ 500 million program in support of Morocco's goals of expanding access to quality preprimary education, significantly encouraging teachers' skills and competencies, and strengthening the governance of the sector.
The fund, which will be spread over five years, aims to support the ministry of Education's ambitious reform agenda to improve the sector's overall performance according to Vision 2015-30 for education, the international financial institution says in a statement.
The education sector represents on average 6.4% of Morocco's gross domestic product (GDP) and is an essential lever to strengthen the country's human capital, says the World Bank, which notes that after the rapid progress made over the past 20 years to achieve universal access to primary education for girls and boys, the authorities should now focus on improving learning and achievement for all students.
Only a deep transformation of the functioning of the system will make it possible to strengthen the quality and efficiency of educational services, by focusing all efforts on the learning process, notes the financial institution, pointing out that in response to this challenge, the ministry of Education has launched an ambitious reform program in line with the 2015-30 Education Vision.
The World Bank's program loan will complement a component of Morocco's strategy to promote a shift in approach towards results-based rather than resource-based governance principles in order to improve classroom learning.
According to the same source, three aspects will be preferred: capacities, learning and behavior, adding that this program is structured around components defined according to the main obstacles to progress in the sector.
USAID Grants to Promote Inclusive Socio-economic Development in Morocco
A grant agreement worth $ 94 million (about 846 million dirhams) signed between Morocco and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to finance the inclusive socio-economic development program.
This program has three components. The first concerns an integrated local development program that will encompass the economic growth and governance sector in the regions of Marrakech-Safi and Beni Mellal-Khenifra.
The second provides for the creation of public-private partnerships, one of which concerns the setting up of a virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology center within a university institution.
The third component intends to provide support to activities that reinvigorate community resilience, by strengthening the capacity of key institutions and civil society organizations in order to provide services to at-risk youth in vulnerable communities.
On this occasion, minister of Economy and Finance, Mohamed Benchaaboun, lauded USAID's interest in Morocco's economic and social development, expressing his satisfaction with the quality of the projects carried out with financial support from the US government.
Belgium Allocates 3 mln Euros to Promote Jobs, Youth Self-Employment in Morocco
Belgium will allocate 3 million euros, over four years, to promote jobs and youth self-employment in Morocco, under a Moroccan-Belgian project. Dubbed "Supporting Youth Entrepreneurship Development in Morocco", the project, which agreement was signed in Rabat by minister of employment Mohamed Yatim and Belgium's ambassador to Morocco Marc Trenteseau, seeks to encourage young people venture into entrepreneurship and ensure economic sustainability for businesses. The project will focus in the beginning on four regions: Beni Mellal-Khenifra, the eastern region, Fez-Meknes and Draa-Tafilalet.
This collaboration coincides with the development and implementation of the National Plan for the Promotion of Employment (PNPE), adopted by the Council of Government in September 2017. it is characterized by a global and integrated approach involving the economic, financial, budgetary and institutional dimensions.
Trenteseau emphasized the importance of this project which will promote the employment of young people, particularly in rural areas, and will build their entrepreneurial capacities. This project, which is based on two Moroccan strategies, specifically the National Integrated Youth Strategy and the 2017-2021 National Employment Promotion Plan, is based on a solid framework developed in collaboration with stakeholders, he said. It will involve Belgian and Moroccan agencies, including Morocco's ANAPEC and the Belgian Cooperation Agency.