HIBAPRESS – Lubna Abrouk
The Head of Government, Fatima Ezzahra Al-Mansouri, announced reform initiatives targeting market regulation and combating monopolies and opportunistic intermediation, alongside strengthening transparency in public procurement. This aims to make public purchasing a lever for supporting national production and stimulating the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises into the economic cycle.
These initiatives, as stated by Al-Mansouri in her speech during the government program presentation to Parliament on Monday, include launching structural reforms for market regulation by adopting dedicated mechanisms to combat monopolistic practices and non-competitive intermediation, in coordination with the Competition Council, while providing appropriate means to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in this area.
Regarding public procurement, the government intends to establish mechanisms for examining contracts and investigating suspected cases of collusion during tenders, with the aim of strengthening competition and reducing practices that may affect the transparency of contract awards and equal opportunities among companies.
The announced initiatives also include adopting a provision that obliges holders of public contracts to allocate 30 percent of their contract value to national small and medium-sized enterprises. This step aims to expand the benefit of the local business fabric from public demand and enhance its contribution to production and economic integration.
