Morocco has established a robust regulatory framework to combat anti-competitive practices and monitor economic concentration operations, said the country’s Competition Council President Ahmed Rahhou on Wednesday in Marrakech.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of an international conference on competitive neutrality and market access, Rahhou highlighted Morocco’s reform efforts, guided by Royal Directives, to ensure competitive neutrality and fair market access.
These reforms include creating the National Agency for Strategic Management of State Holdings and Performance Monitoring of Public Institutions and Enterprises (ANGSPE) and revising the decree on public procurement, she specified.
He emphasized that the Competition Council remains a key player in the economic sphere, stressing the importance of effectively enforcing laws to uphold good governance, transparency, and a dynamic, resilient open economy.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s Treasurer General, Noureddine Bensouda, underscored that Morocco has undertaken several successive reforms of the public procurement decree, the latest of which occurred in 2023. This reform introduced major innovations, enshrining competition as the cornerstone of the public procurement system.
“The current legal framework for public procurement closely aligns with European regulations and meets international standards, especially those recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), specifically regarding competition rules,” he emphasized.
The 2023 reform of the public procurement decree strengthened fair competition and the fight against unlawful practices, he added, noting that quantitative data clearly shows the positive impact of the reform on enhancing competition.
Between January 1 and August 31, 2024, a total of 27,242 tenders were published on the public procurement portal, totaling 131 billion dirhams, compared to 24,902 tenders worth 96 billion dirhams over the same period in 2023, marking a significant increase of 36.4% in value and 9.4% in the number of tenders.
The number of registered economic operators on the public procurement portal exceeded 13,391 companies in the first year following the reform, nearly double the 6,857 companies registered in the year prior, he noted.
He further stated that Morocco’s main technical and financial partners share positive views on these reforms, citing the OECD’s 2024 economic study, which praised Morocco’s public procurement system as the most advanced in the Middle East and North Africa region.
“These international recognitions validate the relevance of our actions and reinforce our determination to continue pursuing reforms,” he concluded.
Organized by the Competition Council, this conference includes representatives from governance bodies, socio-economic operators, national and international institutions, and organizations concerned with competitive neutrality, alongside economists, legal experts, and field specialists.
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