Morocco Boosts Local Businesses with ’National Preference’ in Public Contracts

According to the government, the principle of "national preference" in public procurement is a fundamental pillar to improve the competitiveness of the national product in order to create new jobs.

The comparison between the bids of the bidders for public contracts will have to be based on the nationality of the operators who will be interested in the offer, with a double scale of comparison that has been established for contracts with a value not exceeding 100 million DH, as well as for contracts whose value exceeds 100 million DH, explains Les Inspirations Eco.

The main novelty concerns public institutions, "called upon to accelerate the transposition of national preference standards into their tender processing systems", the same source said.

In addition to VSEs and SMEs, the new system is open to cooperative unions and individual entrepreneurs, as well as new sectors such as craft products.

Imported products will only be accepted if the national product does not meet the requirements of the Kingdom, and this, on the basis of a restrictive and approved list.

A threshold of 100 million DH is set for supply contracts. These will have to receive the prior approval of a special commission, chaired by the Minister of Economy and Finance, with regard to contracts concluded by the administrations and public institutions.