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Analysis: Impacts on Business
Information technology is really growing in Morocco. The government gives a high priority for improving the “technology gap”. The telecommunication infrastructure has significant improvement in Morocco. Impacts on IT business: Since the regional offices were set up in Morocco by major computer corporations (both hardware and software), the IT market is activated. It is really a good time to do the IT investment in Morocco now. The government is making a lot of efforts to make Morocco “IT friendly” Education: government sponsors IT degree program at Morocco’s top University. Industrial park: Information Technology park was set up in Casablanca in the end of year 2000. Tax system: Morocco has adopted an investment charter which sets up the main objectives regarding the promotion and development of investments in Morocco within the next 10 years. The charter’s main objectives are to improve the tax environment, review the tax incentives and set up new incentives for investments. More specifically, these objectives consist of the following: o Reducing the tax burden relating to the acquisition of equipment; o Reducing the income tax rates; o Offering tax incentives to promote regional development; o Promoting offshore and free-trade zones; and o Apportioning more equitably the tax charges among taxpayers. Telecommunication: The Government of Morocco plans to introduce competition into all telecommunications services by January 1, 2002. Progress has also been made in infrastructure development, with connected lines increasing from 827,00 in 1993, to over 3 million by the end of 2000. IT labor: the IT workforce is well educated and the salary level of it, comparing to the US, is relatively low. Over all, Morocco is really a good place for IT business. Impacts on non-IT business: IT is necessary for all kind of businesses, from a flour plant to a bakery, a coffee shop to a bank; information technology plays a main rule of business success. The improved IT environment of Morocco can attract more investment to help the economy growing. IT related Corporation set up regional headquarters in Morocco: the companies like Microsoft, Compaq, IBM, Oracle, and HP established either branch offices or regional headquarter in Morocco. These major IT related companies bring the new technologies and business solutions into the country. They benefit the both local non-IT related Businesses and IT business. They help the business in Morocco improve the IT related issues. The new products can reduce the cost of logistic, labor, et al. the productivities can be increased via adopting new IT solutions. Business related issues:
o The current structure of Morocco's tax system is quite fragmented, which raises administrative costs and reduces transparency. Moreover, the current system depends on revenue sources that can be undermined by the growth of electronic commerce, particularly the value-added tax (VAT) and tariffs. Indirect taxes via the VAT account for 30 percent of revenues, which is about the average typical for a EU country. Revenues are highly dependent on trade taxes (tariffs), which account for 15 percent of revenues. Direct taxes, which electronic commerce will affect as well (although in somewhat different ways than the VAT), account for 25 percent of revenues. Finally, the fragmented nature of the tax system is evident from the observation that the rest of revenues are raised through a hodgepodge of sources and transactions: 11 percent from energy and 4.5 percent each from stamp and excise taxes, and "other." (VAT applies to industrial, commercial and handicraft-type business or to operations related to professional activities carried out in Morocco.) |
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