Aspiring to become the greatest military power in Africa, Morocco has decided to exempt arms manufacturing industries from taxes.
On Thursday, November 14, 2024, the Governing Council of Morocco approved a draft decree modifying the decree of June 2018 regulating industrial activities benefiting from a temporary tax exemption.
The new project expands the list of activities to include companies working in the manufacturing of defense equipment such as weapons and ammunition.
According to the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, Mustapha Baytas, the idea is to provide financial support to these companies by reducing the tax burden.
Morocco wants to develop a local defense industry by attracting foreign investment. The objective is to strengthen the capacities of the Moroccan army and meet its needs for modern equipment.
Morocco’s other wish is to export its products while reducing its volume of arms imports.
Military and political expert Mohamed Choucair told Al Jazeera that the tax exemption strategy has already proven itself in Morocco in the field of agriculture.
Building on this experience, the country chose to use this policy again to create defense industries.
“It was necessary to attract foreign companies specializing in military manufacturing by granting a series of tax exemptions to encourage them to carry out their industrial projects,” said Mr. Choucair.
Morocco must make allies to become the great military power
Two months ago, the Moroccan Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with the Indian group TATA to manufacture WHAP 8×8 land combat vehicles in Morocco.
For Mohamed Choucair, the implementation of the tax exemption should attract other international companies of the same scale as Tata.
Military and security expert Hassan Saoudi shares this opinion. He believes that the development of a local defense industry is an ambitious and complex project.
Its success therefore relies on collaboration with partners from allied and reliable countries, because the defense industry operates as a multilateral system.
This is what justifies the Moroccan cooperation strategy and the signing of agreements with several international partners.
Hassan Saoudi also highlighted India’s expertise, particularly in the creation of industrial zones dedicated to defense and security.
He believes that Morocco could benefit from this experience, especially since the development of this industry presents significant social and economic benefits, particularly in terms of job creation.
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