On May 5, the Government Council adopted draft decree 2.23.310 amending and supplementing decree 2.19.67 published on Chaâbane 11, 1440 (April 17, 2019) implementing law 47.18 reforming regional investment centers (CRI) and creation of unified regional investment commissions.
The decree, presented by the Secretary General of the Government, Mohamed El Hajoui, and published in the last Official Bulletin (BO), officially puts an end to the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior, which lasted for many years, over the Regional Centers of ‘investment.
Article 1 of the decree confers on the minister in charge of investment (headed by Mohcine Jazouli), the State’s supervisory power over regional investment centres, while article 2 entrusts the implementation of this decree to the same delegate minister.
This project aims to modify the provisions of articles 3 and 4 (last paragraph) as well as article 5 of decree 2.19.67 of 11 chaâbane 1440 (April 17, 2019) implementing law 47.18 on the reform of regional centers of investment and the creation of unified regional investment commissions, thus entrusting to the tutelary authority the tasks previously carried out by the governmental authority in charge of the interior.
The text also aims to guarantee the consistency of the State’s policy in terms of development and investment promotion. The draft decree stipulates in its first article that the regional investment centers now come under the supervision of the head of government or the government authority he designates for this purpose.
Under this decree, the regional investment centers (CRI) will now be placed under the direct responsibility of the head of government, who will delegate some of his powers to the delegate ministry in charge of investment, coordination and evaluation. public policies. Governors, for their part, according to the new decree, will have coordination responsibilities and will have the right to review the decisions taken in the event of the refusal of an investment or a project.
Recently, the government spokesman, Mustapha Baitas, explained that ” since investment is not exclusively under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior, and given that it is a sector involving several stakeholders, it was only natural that the government present this decree to get out of the sectoral vision of investment, in order to achieve the direct supervision of the head of government, who has certain prerogatives in terms of coordination of state projects and in various specialized areas“.
The minister also affirmed that the head of government has the right to delegate authority in the sector that he deems capable of managing the investment issue more comprehensively, adding that this step would be followed, in the coming months. , by a second stage concerning the reform of law 47.19 on investment.
It is expected that this step will be submitted to the Council of Government, and it will have to take into account the new reforms introduced in the Investment Charter to complete this project on the legal level.
It should be noted that the absence of Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit during the first session of the meeting of the National Investment Committee, during which investment projects with an unprecedented budget were approved, had raised some questions about a certain “eviction” of the Department of the Interior from the investment file.
In this sense, Mohcine Jazouli, refuted all these speculations, affirming that there was no total separation, but that the two ministries ” work hand in hand and that the government is united to ensure the success of these projects“.
All ministerial departments were involved in the implementation of these investment projects, including the Ministry of Interior, as well as the delegate ministry and regional investment centers, noting that”there is no separation“, had further explained the Minister Delegate.
And to add that the decree governing the regional investment centers had conferred powers on the head of government and that the change in law 47.18 concerning the reform of the regional investment centers constitutes a “ continuity and not a break“.