Morocco Property Investment News

Morocco's new PM promises improved investment climate

The leader of the new government of Morocco has outlined his proposals for the country, and is intending to prioritise the creation of housing as well as improvements to the current investment climate. The government hopes to encourage the development of large-scale projects in the country in order to boost its economy and to create employment, and intends to double the volume of investment that Morocco has received over the last few years.

Morocco’s new government came to power in mid-October, under the leadership of Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi. El Fassi has since been quick to outline the government’s intentions for the country, including the construction of 150,000 units for social housing each year, and the implementation of a program to construct 50,000 affordable villas.

The demand fuelling this increase in housing comes partly from within Morocco, as it is the intention of King Mohammed VI to rid the country of all of its shanty towns by 2012. However, it is also hoped that with the planned economic growth, demand for property will rise across the board. Investing in Moroccan property is expected to become easier thanks to the government’s raft of plans to encourage investment. These include simplifying its tax system and making it more competitive, introducing a more flexible exchange system, reducing income tax and tax on companies, and possibly reducing value added tax (VAT).

Tourism has not been overlooked. The new government hopes to take the number of available tourist beds from 150,000 to 265,000 over the next five years, as part of King Mohammed’s ‘Vision 2012’ initiative to boost tourism. This would directly create 80,000 new jobs, and the growth of the tourism industry will provide plenty of opportunities for investment by overseas buyers.