House of Representatives: adoption in committee of a bill on the reform of the CRI
Rabat – The Finance and Economic Development Committee of the House of Representatives adopted by majority on Wednesday, draft law No. 22.24 amending and supplementing law No. 47.18 on the reform of regional investment centers (CRI) and the creation of unified regional investment commissions.
The bill received the approval of 10 deputies, while five others abstained, with no opposition recorded. The majority and opposition groups proposed about 96 amendments. The government responded favorably to some of them, including the inclusion of the president of the region or his representative as a member of the unified regional investment commission, increasing the deadline set for the Ministerial Appeals Commission to rule on appeals to 45 days instead of 30 days from the date of its referral, in addition to requiring the preparation of the annual report on the activities of the Center by its director no later than March 31 of the following year. In response to the proposed amendments, the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government, in charge of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, Mohcine Jazouli, recalled that His Majesty King Mohammed VI set specific and clear objectives to reform the CRIs and grant them the necessary prerogatives to fulfill their mission, particularly in terms of creating 500,000 jobs by 2026. Regarding the settlement of investment disputes, Mr. Jazouli revealed that nearly 80% of problems are resolved amicably as part of the efforts made by the Center between investors and public administrations or bodies, explaining that the objective of the bill is to simplify procedures to achieve the expected results in terms of investment. The bill provides for several new features, including the holding of the Board of Directors of the CRIs under the chairmanship of the Head of Government or the government authority delegated for this purpose. It also involves entrusting the presidency of the regional investment commissions to the director of the CRI. As for appeals filed by investors against negative decisions of the regional investment commission, the bill provides for “the replacement of the Ministerial Steering Commission by a Ministerial Appeals Commission chaired by the Head of Government in order to enable it to fully fulfill the missions entrusted to it in terms of decisions on appeals submitted to it”. Furthermore, the bill stipulates that exemptions in terms of urban planning are issued exclusively by the Head of Government, after receiving the favorable opinion of the regional investment commission, for the benefit of any investment project that will be carried out in industry or the hotel industry. It also provides for the expansion of the missions of the CRIs to include the development of draft investment agreements, the amount of which is less than 250 million dirhams (MDH), in coordination with the representatives of the competent regional decentralized services. According to the provisions of the said draft law, these draft agreements will be approved by the regional investment commission and signed by the Wali of the region, the heads of the competent regional decentralized services and the investor concerned.
2024-09-17 16:13:23