20th Anniversary of the Enthronment: A Monarch with a Vision

Since the Enthronement of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI in 1999, Morocco has undergone significant transformations in many areas. The major progress in all fields, the stimulation of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) as well as the constitutional reform initiated by His Majesty in 2011 have bolstered Morocco’s economic growth and development.

During the last 20 years of the reign of His Majesty Mohammed VI, Morocco has become even more stable and resilient to global threats. The Kingdom has been amazingly developed with world-class infrastructures that contribute to sustaining the economic growth and attracting more foreign investments and tourists as well.

The clear vision of His Majesty Mohammed VI, allowed Morocco today to enjoy a solid and well-developed transportation system. As a result, the 1,800 km of Morocco’s world-class highways are linking a large number of cities to each other.

The High-Speed-Train, which was inaugurated by His Majesty the King, in November 2018, linking the city of Tangier and the city of Casablanca, is also a unique achievement in Africa.

Furthermore, Morocco has been involved in developing and expanding the Tangier Med port – one of the top and biggest ports in Africa – which operates more than 50% of Morocco’s exports. Tangier Med II Extension inaugurated in June 2019 is meant to increase the port’s capacity to 9 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) to be the biggest container port in the Mediterranean.

This wave of infrastructure development in Morocco helped the achievement of the goals of the kingdom’s tourism strategy – Vision 2020– which was presented for the first time to His Majesty King Mohammed VI on 30th November 2010 in Marrakech.

It is a vision committed to making tourism one of the engines of economic, social and cultural development of Morocco. Through the 2020 Vision, Morocco aims to be one of the top 20 global destinations in the near future and to establish itself as a point of reference for the Mediterranean region in terms of sustainable development.

As a result, Morocco has surpassed 12 million tourists annually for the last few years putting it in first place, in terms of tourist arrivals, ahead of several African countries.

Along with being attractive, Morocco is a solid and stable country today in the eyes of its people, foreign tourists and investors thanks to its history of more than twelve centuries. Morocco was fortunate due to important reforms undertaken by His Majesty the King and be preserved from the turmoil that affected many countries during the last decade. This long sustainable stability gave investors more confidence to invest in Morocco and to continue to reinforce their investments.

The political will and the long-term vision of the King of Morocco, His Majesty Mohammed VI, since His Enthronement, two decades ago, are two important elements that contributed to transforming Morocco to a propitious land of investment.

Morocco has a legal framework that attracts foreign investors, who are treated as equal to nationals, by providing them with many incentives to protect and develop their investments. One of those incentives is the possibility to transfer their capitals and benefits abroad without any restrictions.

The Advanced Status that Morocco enjoys with the European Union and the Free Trade Agreements with the United States of America as well as with many African and Arab countries and Turkey are among other elements that attract foreign investors to settle and produce in Morocco.

According to recent data from the Moroccan Foreign Exchange Office, Foreign Direct Investments increased by 41.5% by the end of October 2018 compared to the same period a year ago. Indeed, the World Bank’s Doing Business ranks Morocco 60 out of a total of 190 countries.

For all these reasons, Morocco is recognized today as one of the best emerging markets for foreign investors in Africa and it is seen by international observers as the face of modern Africa.

Its full engagement and strong involvement within the international community to defend the environment and protect the future generation allow Morocco to be seen as a trusted partner worldwide.

Aware of the negative impact of climate change, Morocco has adopted since early 2000 an ambitious energy strategy based on the development of renewable energies. The birth of this strategy could not have been possible without the clear vision of His Majesty Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, who personally supported and followed closely its implementation.

Therefore, the objective of this strategy was to secure 42% of the country’s energy mix from renewable sources by 2020 and 52% by 2030 and so far it is obvious that the objective of 42% will be reached before the fixed deadline.

A huge project also emerged in this context which is the Global Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex (‘‘Noor’’ is ‘‘Light’’ in Arabic) that has positioned itself as the largest solar multi-technology complex in operation in the world so far.

In the context of international cooperation, Morocco was among the first countries in the world to ratify the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, Morocco hosted in November 2016 the 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties on Climate Change, commonly called the COP22 Conference.The organization of this global event in Morocco witnessed the progress made by the Kingdom in protecting the environment, encouraging and maximizing the use of renewable energies.

While celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Enthronement of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, it is worth mentioning that the vision of His Majesty has positioned Morocco as a unique country that progressed – and keep progressing – in a world full of challenges of different natures.