Speaking at the opening of a high-level international workshop on the National Competition Barometer organized by the Competition Council, Guerraoui highlighted that the project intends to contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives assigned to the Council since its reactivation by HM King Mohammed VI.

The protection of the Moroccan consumer by preserving its purchasing power and contributing to its welfare, securing the supply of goods and strategic commodities to the domestic market, and contributing to improving the business climate and strengthening the attractiveness of the national economy are among the objectives, Guerraoui noted.

"The impacts generated by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis are profound hence our National Competition Authorities must engage in a collective reflection to face the new challenges of competition regulation driven by the emergence and development of a new kind of anti-competitive practices," he stated.

The BNC project will be based on macroeconomic, microeconomic, and mesoeconomic indicators and measurement tools of competition, repeated over time at regular intervals to make a comparison when monitoring the state and evolution of competition, the official added.

The international workshop aims to mobilize the collective intelligence of practitioners and experts representing National Competition Authorities (Spain, South Africa, and Turkey) as well as representatives of the Council's international and regional partner institutions and organizations working in the field of international competition law and policy (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development).