The most prominent headlines of Moroccan newspapers issued today, Friday, September 20, 2024

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Below is a presentation of the most prominent headlines in the national newspapers issued today, Friday, September 20, 2024.

Morocco offers investors access to a direct market of over 2.3 billion consumers (Al Alam)

Morocco has become a major destination for major global car companies, as this vital sector is experiencing rapid growth, and the “Made in Morocco” label has become an important international reference after the increasing attraction of major car manufacturers in the world thanks to the appropriate infrastructure, the trained workforce, as well as the geographical location that allows easy access to European markets. In this context, Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade, confirmed that thanks to the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Morocco has become the first international destination for investment in this sector, noting that Morocco is positioned as the second most competitive country in the world in the automotive industry. The Minister added, during his participation in the opening session of the 2024 Localization Conference in Tangier for the “Aptiv” group, specialized in the manufacture of automotive parts and wires, that Morocco provides international investors with the opportunity to access a direct market of more than 2.3 billion consumers, through more than 100 free trade agreements signed by the Kingdom.

Consumer Protection University: Importing frozen meat is much better than live calves (Science)

The government continues the procedures of importing cattle for slaughter and fattening to ensure price stability and protect national production. An informed source confirmed that the Jorf Lasfar port in El Jadida received a new shipment of imported calves, including more than 1,300 heads, coming from the port of Marseille on a private ship. In this context, Bouazza Kharati, President of the Moroccan Association for the Protection of Consumer Rights, said that the process of importing calves for slaughter and fattening was not and will not be a solution to ensure food sovereignty, adding in a statement to “Al Alam” that production must be national. The same speaker added that Morocco’s import of frozen red meat is much better and cheaper than live calves for slaughter and fattening.

“Tangier Med” accounts for 60 percent of transit traffic (Sabah)

The port of Tangier Med ranked first among Moroccan ports in terms of the number of Moroccans arriving from the community, and accounted for more than 60 percent of the total movement of Moroccans around the world through the Strait of Gibraltar due to its proximity to the European coasts, and its availability of infrastructure and capabilities that allow it to accommodate ships and vessels that provide connections between a number of Mediterranean ports. The number of arrivals at the Mediterranean port, since the launch of Operation Marhaba “2024”, which began on June 5 and continued until midnight on Sunday (15) September, exceeded 800,000 arriving passengers and the same number during the departure phase, and they crossed on board about 430,000 cars and 4,000 international transport buses.

Taxes inspect accounts of self-employed people (Sabah)

The General Directorate of Taxes’ control teams have subjected the accounts of actors in the liberal professions sector to auditing after the information system detected discrepancies in the declared data. Sources reported that the control operations concern some engineering and technical studies companies, after it became clear that the standard of living of the owners of these companies far exceeds the declared income. The same sources confirmed that the inspectors were able to detect real estate and movable assets in the billions, belonging to some liberal professions concerned by the tax audit, while the declared income does not exceed 200 thousand dirhams per year (20 million centimes).

Sports media in Morocco, Spain and Portugal unite to ensure perfect coverage of the 2030 World Cup (Socialist Union)

On Wednesday evening, the Press House in Tangier hosted the signing ceremony of a cooperation protocol between the Moroccan Sports Press Association, the Spanish Sports Press Association and the Portuguese Sports Press Association, with the aim of strengthening tripartite cooperation, with a view to jointly organizing the 2030 World Cup. This protocol is the culmination of the unified vision that unites the three associations regarding this global football event, and a reminder of the importance of the media as a lever for the success of any event. It also translates the shared awareness of these bodies that sports media has a central and pivotal role in giving an ideal character to the organization of the 2030 World Cup by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, as an exceptional and unprecedented event in the history of this global sporting event.

Doctors of the Ministry of National Education demand that general seniority be calculated when changing the framework to a research professor since January 2024 (Socialist Union)

The pre-2012 doctors affiliated with the Ministry of National Education announced their commitment to settling the status of all doctors who were victims of the 2010 agreement and did not benefit from the 2010 and 2012 batches. The National Group of Doctors demanded that general seniority be calculated when changing the framework to research professor since January 2024, in order to compensate for the damage that has befallen this category of ministry employees for more than 14 years, and to expedite the issuance of an organizational memorandum to change the framework to research professor and give priority to the seniority of the doctorate degree in the recruitment of the first batch.

The best countries for women.. Morocco is third in Africa and 63rd in the world (Al-Ummah Message)

Morocco lost two places in the “Best Countries in the World for Women 2024” index, issued by the US News and World Report, but maintained its lead in the North Africa region and third place on the continent in this index. The index report revealed that Morocco ranked 63rd in the world, compared to 61st place last year in this index, which relied on a set of criteria to classify the best countries for women to live in, including, in particular, the level of women’s participation in economic, social and political opportunities and equal wages for similar work between men and women.

Morocco and China sign a memorandum of understanding in the field of water resources (Al-Ummah Message)

Morocco and China signed, on Wednesday in Rabat, a memorandum of understanding to establish an executive program for cooperation in the field of water resources covering the period 2025-2027. This executive program, signed by the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, and the Chinese Vice Minister of Water Resources, Zhou Xingqing, aims to exchange expertise, strengthen human and institutional capacities, prepare joint cooperation projects, and coordinate the implementation of specialized training programs in the field of water.

Investment in smart transportation applications (Moroccan events)

In light of the controversy sparked by smart applications in the transportation sector, the Ministry of Transport announced its readiness to regulate the sector through these applications. Minister of Transport and Logistics, Mohamed Abdel Jalil, explained the ministry’s readiness to study proposals submitted by companies wishing to invest in the transportation sector through smart applications, provided that they adhere to the legal and regulatory procedures in force. The minister indicated, in response to a written question submitted by the movement team in the House of Representatives, that any activity to transport people using digital media without obtaining an official license is a clear violation of the laws and regulations in force. The minister stressed that introducing smart applications into the transportation sector requires the readiness of all actors in the system, including taxi and bus drivers, to adapt to this new type of service.

Sending two Canadair aircraft to fight forest fires in Portugal (Today’s statement)

Upon the high instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Air Force sent two Canadair aircraft and a CASA support aircraft, on Wednesday, September 18, to Monte Real, Portugal, to contribute to the efforts of the Portuguese authorities to combat forest fires in the north of the country, as part of a joint initiative in which Spanish, French and Italian aircraft also participated. A statement from the General Command of the Royal Armed Forces explained that four crews and a technical team from the firefighting squadron of the 3rd Air Base of the Royal Air Force were also mobilized as part of this mission, which comes in response to a request for support from the Portuguese authorities.

Baitas: 3000 people attempted to illegally migrate via Fnideq and 152 instigators were brought to justice (Moroccan Sahara)

The number of people who attempted to migrate illegally amounted to nearly 3,000 people, and 152 people were brought to justice, following the arrests of those involved in calls to incite illegal migration through the city of Fnideq, and all migration attempts were thwarted. Mustapha Baitas, the official spokesman for the government, praised, in a press conference yesterday, Thursday, in Rabat, “the great professionalism with which the public forces dealt with the situation, in full respect of legal controls and ensuring the safety of individuals without recording any deaths among illegal migrants,” highlighting the government’s monitoring of attempts to incite some young people to migrate by unknown parties by exploiting social media to mobilize them.

World Bank to use guarantees to attract more international funding to Morocco (Moroccan Sahara)

The Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), part of the World Bank Group, Hiroshi Matano, confirmed that the World Bank intends to use guarantees to attract more international financing to Morocco. Mr. Matano said: “We believe that these guarantees will help Moroccan borrowers (public enterprises, institutions and non-sovereign counterparties) diversify their sources of financing with private capital.”

Integrating “KNOPS” into the Social Security Fund raises concerns among unions (Al-Massa)

Bill No. 54.23 amending and supplementing Law No. 65.00 to merge the National Fund for Social Security Organizations (CNOS) into the National Social Security Fund has raised concerns among workers’ cooperatives and unions regarding the repercussions of this merger on the rights of workers and beneficiaries of CNOS services. In this regard, the cooperatives that make up the National Fund for Social Security Organizations expressed their surprise at the government’s issuance of Bill No. 54.23 unilaterally and without consulting them. The cooperatives added in a statement that the government’s project will eliminate this cooperative system, as well as the experience it has accumulated in this field.

After a long wait.. The third and fourth tram lines will start next Monday (evening)

After months of waiting, the Casablanca Transport Company announced on Wednesday that the actual service of the third and fourth lines of the “Casa Tramway” will start next Monday. A statement from the company explained that the launch of the two lines comes “after a period of testing in the real conditions of driving without passengers, which started last May,” noting that this stage “is considered necessary to stand at the last essential points.”

Income Tax: Main Lines of Reform (L’Inspiracion Eco)

Five years after the “tax reform”, the income tax reform will be implemented in the 2025 Finance Bill. The main changes confirmed in the income tax reform are the increase in the first bracket of the table relating to net income exempt from tax from 30,000 dirhams to 40,000 dirhams, which will exempt incomes below 6,000 dirhams per month. The impact of this measure will be felt on the payrolls of hundreds of thousands of people as of January 2025. For good reason, this reform affects the middle classes, the low-income bracket and categories working in labor-intensive industries such as textiles and clothing, hotels and call centers.

New operations for SDX Energy to explore and produce gas in Morocco (The Economist)

SDX Energy is looking to ramp up its gas exploration and production activities in Morocco, given strong demand from industrial buyers in the country. The British company announced in a statement that it will start drilling a stratigraphic well in the fourth quarter of 2024, without specifying the location. The company stressed that this operation is “critical” to its campaign to drill production wells planned for early 2025.

Vienna.. Morocco elected as a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Al Bayan)

Morocco was elected, by acclamation, yesterday, Thursday, in Vienna, as a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the period 2024-2026, during the 68th session of the Agency’s General Conference. The Kingdom’s election by acclamation, on behalf of Africa, to this important decision-making body of the IAEA reflects the international community’s confidence in Morocco as an actor of peace, dialogue and consensus in multilateral forums under the high guidance of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.

Operation Marhaba 2024 was “exceptional and successful” (Liberation)

The official in charge of the medical and humanitarian pole at the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, Omar Moussa Abdellah, confirmed that Operation Marhaba 2024 was “exceptional and successful.” Mr. Moussa Abdellah said that “it can be said that Operation Marhaba 2024, which enjoys the high attention of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, was excellent, exceptional and successful, as the number of Moroccans living abroad who entered the country increased by 18.84 percent compared to last year.” The official explained that the number of Moroccans residing abroad who entered Morocco during the period from June 5 to September 15 amounted to 3.76 million people, explaining that 52 percent of them, or 1.97 million people, entered the country through sea crossings and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

Economic growth in Morocco at the heart of reforms (L’Opinion)

A new study conducted by the Economic Studies Department of the French group “Bank Al-Maghrib” revealed that Morocco has demonstrated a recognized efficiency in managing its public policies, which has enabled it to achieve a degree of macroeconomic stability despite the shocks it has been exposed to (such as the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the aftermath of the earthquake, etc.). The institution’s experts stressed that this is “an important sign of confidence for investors, which has enabled, in particular, a continuous history of access to international markets and a low cost of debt, elements that will enhance its sustainability.”

Summer tourist season 2024.. Morocco receives 4.4 million tourists in two months (Le Matin)

The government council, which met yesterday, Thursday, followed a presentation by the Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Social Economy and Solidarity, Fatima Zahra Ammor, during which she confirmed that the number of arrivals during the past two months of July and August reached 4.4 million tourists. This made it possible to record tourism revenues in hard currency amounting to 59.4 billion dirhams during the first seven months of this year.