The Moroccan government has made small and medium enterprises (SME) policy a key component of its overall competitiveness and economic policy through a number of strategic initiatives, has streamlined the government role in the industry, and is continuously passing reforms to facilitate access into the market. Morocco’s policy framework is approaching those of the EU-12 countries and the level of convergence towards EU policies in the SME area is quite advanced. Indeed, Morocco is the only country in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, aside from Israel, that has put all the building blocks of a comprehensive and coordinated SME policy in place, including delegation, strategy, coordination and implementation. Through 2015, the government has announced funding of US$ 140 mn to support SMEs.

SMEs represent 98% of all Moroccan companies and 43% of jobs created. They also represent 40% of private investment, 44% of the total workforce and 31% of the value added. According to CDVM, the Moroccan financial market authority, SMEs account for 40% of GDP and 31% of total exports. As the Moroccan government is well aware of the importance of SMEs in the country, and the need to include the private sector to contribute to growth, the country has a well-established participatory approach to the elaboration and implementation of SME policy. As such, the market is positively open to outside contribution.