542. In order to give the region an institutional capacity enabling it to engage in self-government and self-managed development, a decentralization and devolution process had been engaged and pursued through the creation of regional councils (chaired by the Governors and made up of Deputies, local council chairmen and regional and local leaders), the consolidation and expansion of their roles, the creation of local councils, the restructuring of the promotional institutions of regional development and the strengthening of the regional authorities’ and municipal councils’ prerogatives. 543. Beyond the institutional aspect, the regional development strategy got down to meeting all the conditions favourable to a self-managed development and to the diversification of its productive base and its economic fabric by taking into consideration the peculiarities specific to each region such as its demographic characteristics and natural endowments. 544. The strategy was devoted to improving the attraction of each region by setting up a series of activities capable of provoking the required reactivity from the private operators and to promote their initiatives. These activities, seen as so many incentives, and relating to fields as varied as: • • • • • The coordination between the multiple actors, notably those under the public service, to guarantee the necessary coherence and efficiency for their interventions; The regulation of the markets and the dissemination of economic information to help the economic agents enhance the rationalization of their decisions and improve their expectations; The development of the appropriate infrastructure to open up the landlocked regions and facilitate their integration in the marketing field and in their environment; The valorization of the human resources of the region by adapting the training mechanism in relation to its needs and those of the enterprises operating therein; The granting of fiscal and financial benefits to encourage private investment and entreprises to set up business in the regions. 545. Furthermore, and to take into account the differences in terms of initial allocations as well as to guarantee to each region the right to development, the public authorities have ensured that: • • On the one hand, while benefiting all the regions, these incentives be modulated according to the principle of positive discrimination for the regions which are inadequately endowed to enable them integrate more in the dynamics of economic growth and expansion; On the other hand, this system of incentives is completed for these regions by means of specific programmes whose content is commensurate with the zone of intervention and with the category of the targetted population. 546. To allow all the regions of the country to enjoy the right to development, various programmes had been implemented. This is the case for the integrated rural development programmes in particular (PDRI), the integrated urban development programmes (PDUI) and the activities of the National Solidarity 114

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