Speaking at the Government Council, El Otmani discussed the second meeting of the ministerial steering committee for the reform of regional investment centers (CRIs), in charge of monitoring the operation of these Centers and examining the processing of appeals received from investors whose files have been rejected at the level of the regional investment commissions.
The Head of Government underlined, in this regard, that the year 2019 witnessed the completion of all the measures necessary for the implementation of this reform, in particular in terms of the creation of unified regional investment commissions (CRUI), the publication of a decree implementing the law relating to the reform of CRIs, the completion of the transformation of CRIs into public establishments with administrative and financial autonomy, the widening of their areas of competence and missions and the adoption of administrative deconcentration with regard to the study and granting of the necessary authorizations for the realization of investment projects, before these Centers begin to offer, early 2020, their services to investors in the new form.
He underlined that the first year of work under the new system had made it possible to post "very encouraging" results, thanks in particular to the positive and important development of a set of indicators linked, in particular, to the multiplication of meetings of the CRUI, the number of which reached 700 meetings during 2020, at the rate of 5 meetings per month for each region, and the reduction in the rate of the processing of files, which is 27 days instead of more than 100 days over the past years, as well as the notable increase in the number of cases processed to more than 3,200 cases, of which more than 68% of them have been approved.
El Otmani explained that among the unapproved files, 93 were appealed before the Walis, 28 were approved after review of the file, while five investors sent their appeals to the inter-ministerial steering committee, noting that the increase in the digitization rate of various operations linked to CRIs and regional investment commissions will strengthen these results, in particular after the adoption, this year, of the digital platform CRI Invest, which allows electronic processing of files as well as the simplification of procedures for requesting review and appeal, while ensuring their treatment and informing those concerned of their outcome within the time limits set out.
The Head of Government welcomed this promising start and the efforts of all the sectors and establishments involved in this important reform project, officials and executives, and in particular the ministry of the Interior, in charge of the secretariat of the Inter-ministerial steering Commission.
El Otmani also welcomed the good conduct of the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, launched by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, underlining that the indicators linked to the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country show a relative control of the pandemic, thanks to the efforts made by the Kingdom under the leadership of HM the King and a set of health preventive measures that were respected, generally, by the citizens.
To this end, he said that the number of COVID-19 cases has decreased significantly and that the occupancy rate of COVID-19 intensive care beds has also fallen, from 34% to around 20% currently, adding that the number of COVID-19 related-deaths has also dropped significantly.