CRIs Helped Create 20,466 New Businesses in 2020

The Regional Investment Centers (CRIs) helped create 20,466 new businesses in 2020, a report on CRIs said.

These centers also provided coaching and support services to 18,111 small, medium and very small businesses, said a statement by the Department of the Head of Government on the occasion of the 4th meeting of the inter-ministerial steering committee for the CRIs reform, held Thursday in Rabat.

Chaired by the Head of Government Saad Dine El Otmani, this meeting was devoted to the assessment of the annual action plan and performance of CRIs for the year 2020, under the provisions of Law No. 47-18 on the reform of CRIs and creation of the Regional Unified Investment Commissions (CRUI).

These centers have accompanied more than 4,000 investors in the stages of study and design of the project and constitution and filing of investment files, the statement said.

Indicators show that the average time for the study of investment files by the CRUI does not exceed 20 days and that almost 60% of the files were approved.

The CRUI held 705 meetings during this year, an 141% increase compared to 2019.

1,499 investment projects were approved during this period, for a total estimated budget of 151 billion dirhams, while about 153,000 jobs should be created, the statement said.

The members of the steering committee followed a detailed presentation on the assessment of the CRIs one year after the implementation of the institutional reform of these structures. They also discussed several practical proposals to improve and evaluate the performance of the CRIs.

The meeting was attended by the Ministry of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicrafts and Social Economy, the Minister of Energy, Mining and the Environment, and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Interior, among other figures.