With Morocco as the guest of honour at the 2025 edition of IMEX Madrid, Atalayar interviewed Noussaira El Harrak, from the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Regional Investment Centre, who spoke at the event to explain the countless advantages that northern Morocco offers Spanish businesspeople.
The Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Regional Investment Centre attended IMEX Madrid to promote the region as an investment destination. On this occasion, there was also a Doing Business event, which served as the opening for the two-day conference. What are your objectives for this edition?
As on previous occasions, when we have always been accompanied by Atalayar, this is the sixth stop on our Doing Business business meetings tour, in which we promote and raise awareness of our region, its potential and all the tax advantages, incentives and financing mechanisms available in the areas we cover. We are participating in IMEX Madrid 2025, which has a high profile in the business world, to make contact with businesspeople and also with the Moroccan diaspora living in Spain, to help them and encourage them to invest in Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima.
The northern region of Morocco has become a leading economic centre, excelling in sectors such as automotive, aeronautics, renewable energy, textiles, agri-food and tourism. Of all these, which is proving most dynamic in attracting Spanish companies?
We cannot say that there is a single sector that attracts Spanish, foreign or Moroccan companies. The Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region is a very complete and mature ecosystem in all sectors: automotive, agribusiness, renewable energy, tourism… all sectors are important and we treat investors from any sector equally. We have everything you need in the automotive sector; two areas dedicated to the textile industry; everything necessary to accommodate agribusiness, with a specific area for it in Larache; in tourism, our region has 447 kilometres of coastline, so there is space to build hotels, there are international hotel chains already established in Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima and we are expecting more to come. Therefore, we cannot single out just one sector. It is a region that welcomes all sectors, which are key for us. There is also logistics, with Tangier Med, three international airports and the high-speed train. All this makes our region a strategic area from a geographical point of view.
Morocco and Spain, together with Portugal, are the organising countries for the 2030 World Cup. Do you think this is an opportunity to further strengthen the commercial ties that unite Spain and Morocco, especially in sectors such as infrastructure construction, hospitality and tourism?
There have always been close ties between Morocco and Spain; it is a historic, lifelong relationship. Both countries are united by our history, culture… For the World Cup, what we are doing is helping and ensuring that everyone is satisfied at all levels, and that we are capable of hosting such a major event. This year, in 2025, we will be hosting the Africa Cup of Nations and work is already underway. We are helping and offering many advantages to companies and investors who want to do business, especially in tourism and hospitality. We have programmes to finance and support this sector so that it can meet FIFA’s requirements.
One of the issues highlighted by Spanish businesspeople who have set up in Morocco is the ease and speed with which the procedures for setting up a company and starting business in the region are carried out. How is the one-stop shop system and online procedures working?
The Regional Investment Centre is considered a one-stop shop, so investors can complete all the procedures through us and, above all, digitally, via our platforms. We welcome and advise them from start to finish: from the moment they have the idea to the day they start their business. At the Regional Investment Centre, we obtain building permits and all kinds of licences. The most important thing is that the treatment is the same, whether you are a foreign or Moroccan investor: you are asked for the documentation and treated in the same way. You are in constant contact with our team from the moment you upload your file to our platform. A member of the team advises you and follows you step by step through the implementation process.
It is also important for entrepreneurs to know that if problems or differences of opinion arise with local authorities, there is an arbitration service to help resolve them. How is this conflict resolution system working?
It is a very important department within the Regional Investment Council. It is a completely free service, as we are a public institution. The Conciliation Department is responsible for resolving any disputes between a public institution and an investor. As we said before, everything is done through our platforms, digitally and without having to go to our offices. The application can be made through the E-Requête platform and a member of our legal team will handle the dispute between the investor and the institution in the best possible way.
Finally, do you have any plans to hold new Doing Business events in Spain in 2025?
We are designing a work plan with our usual partners, the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Tangier-Nador and the CGEM. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but we are working on it.
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