Doing Business in Morocco
Doing Business in Morocco, the first subnational report on the country, measures the ways in which government regulations enhance business activity or restrain it at the subnational level. The report measures regulations in four Doing Business areas: starting a business, dealing with licenses, registering property, and enforcing contracts. The regions covered by the subnational report are represented by their biggest cities: Agadir, Kenitra, Marrakech, Meknes, Oujda/Nador, Settat, and Tangier. Casablanca, which is covered in the global Doing Business report, is included as a point of reference. The data for Doing Business in Morocco were collected in May 2007. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why.There are significant differences in the ease of doing business among Casablanca and the seven regions studied. Doing business is the easiest in Agadir, as shown in the table below.
Even the best performing regions in Morocco have a long way to go to reach the best global ranks. There is a strong need for reforms. Regions can find inspiration in existing best practices within Moroccan (e.g., establishment of commercial courts and one-stop shops for registering a business or obtaining construction license) as well as in the pace of reforms in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
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Doing business in Morocco: |
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| Agadir | 1 | ||||
| L'Oriental | 2 | ||||
| Settat | 3 | ||||
| Marrakech | 4 | ||||
| Kenitra | 5 | ||||
| Casablanca | 6 | ||||
| Meknes | 7 | ||||
| Tangier | 8 | ||||
| Source: Doing Business database | |||||
Main findings of Doing Business in Morocco:
- If Morocco adopted the best regional practices in each of the measured indicator areas, its global ranking would improve by 16 places. Morocco would rank 113, passing Algeria, Brazil, Egypt, and India.
- It is cheaper to start a business in the Moroccan regions than in Cairo or Dubai. Among all covered regions, establishing a business is least expensive in Casablanca (11.6 % of income per capita).
- Enforcing a contract is easiest in Agadir, where the process takes 303 days. If Casablanca adopted the best practices from Agadir, Morocco would rank 51 instead of 114 on this indicator.
