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| Africa North |
| India's reform path a role model for Morocco |
| 2006-12-11 |
| ENTHUSED BY India's remarkable success in emerging as the second fastest growing economy globally in recent years, Morocco is keen to emulate the Indian experience in reforms and development of human capital so as to be on track for sustained growth in the medium and long term. It comes as no surprise that India has been designated as the `Country of Honour' at Morocco's ongoing fourth international conference on `Fundamentals of Investment,' having selected it as the role model for its giant strides in the services industry, the information technology sector in particular. Morocco, the kingdom in northern Africa with a population of about 30 million, has come to realise that the best bet to usher in investment is the development of human capital in keeping with market needs. In this regard, education, training and employment remain a prime challenge, as the country's literacy rate is at a low of 40 per cent. However, what comes as a boon is its vast French-speaking population which can cater to the needs of IT-enabled services such as call centres and BPO (business process outsourcing) for France and other countries. Alongside, what comes as an incentive for Indian corporates is that Morocco also presents itself as an export gateway, the country having entered into free trade agreements (FTAs) with the US, the European Union, and several other countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. In the event, this makes joint ventures in the manufacturing and other sectors quite attractive. Besides, Morocco offers a number of fiscal incentives, the most important one being a five-year tax holiday and corporate taxation at the marginal rate of 35 per cent on 50 per cent of the revenue earned thereafter. Stressing the urgent need for development of human capital as the major challenge while inaugurating the conference here, the Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou, noted that such a strategy alone could help the African state in staying ahead of the competition. Just as the large pool of English-speaking manpower in India has put the country on top with regard to IT services and software development for the world at large, Morocco, he said, could cater in a big way to the French-speaking nations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 I lived in Rabat, Morocco for six months in 1976. I liked it. A lot of Europeans come to the beaches at Agadir. About half the ladies wore veils, but many of the younger generation wore jeans. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-12-11 06:18 |