Istanbul - Minister Delegate in charge of economic and general affairs, Nizar Baraka, held here on Saturday talks with the Acting Vice President, Financial and Private Sector Development at the World Bank, Penelopes Brook on Morocco's reforms to improve business climate.
During the meeting, held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) annual assembly, Baraka underlined Morocco's efforts to reform the justice system and the creation of a national committee for business environment.
He also pointed to the setting up of the national body to fight corruption and the unit to combat money laundering and highlighted measures taken by the government to promote small and medium enterprises, in addition to Morocco's considerable achievements in terms of infrastructure and foreign direct investments promotion.
Touching on the WB's "doing business" report, which asses business regulation measures in over 183 countries, Baraka said that "compared to other countries in the MENA region, Morocco is better placed in terms of administrative procedures relating to creating enterprises and issuing investment authorizations," adding that the north African Kingdom ranked third among African countries in the field of investment promotion.
The Moroccan official took part earlier in a meeting of the African consultative group, chaired by IMF's Managing Director, Dominique Strauss Kahn, during which African countries discussed the impact of the financial crisis on their economies and urged the IMF for more support.
Baraka leads a Moroccan delegation composed notably of Governor of Morocco's central bank, Bank Al Maghrib, Abdellatif Jouahri, and other top officials from the Finance Ministry.
The IMF annual assembly, held on October 3-6, brings together some 15.000 participants from 185 countries, including Finance Ministers, heads of central banks in addition to NGO's and financial institutions' representatives.
© Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse 2009
