Rabat- Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment, and Digital Economy, seems to be optimistic about Morocco’s automotive industry.
Inaugurating the 2018 edition of the Automotive Subcontracting Fair, which took place from April 25-27 in Tangier, the minister set himself the challenge of reaching 1 million vehicles produced each year in Morocco by 2025.
“We are going to exceed MAD 100 billion of export sales which is expected by 2020, but I will take a new bet and raise the bar to MAD 200 billion export with a production capacity of one million vehicles by 2025,” the minister said.
Commenting on the performance and achievements of the sector, Elalamy said that Morocco aspires to make the automotive sector a real vector of development, stating that the automotive industry is the leading export sector with nearly MAD 70 billion of turnover registered in 2017, compared to MAD 40 billion in 2014, marking 44.5 percent of industrial exports.
The minister added that the number of jobs created by the sector between 2014 and 2017 stood at 83,845 new positions, thus contributing to the creation of 29 percent of industrial jobs.
The automobile industry is considered one of the most promising and dynamic sectors in Morocco, greatly increasing Moroccan exports through the help of its human, material, and technical assets and potentials.
Moreover, Morocco has become a favorite investment destination for many of the world’s leading car manufacturers, including the leading French manufacturer Renault, which opened a plant in Tangier in 2012.
In 2015, France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen announced that it will open a manufacturing plant in the city of Kenitra. The direct result of this new plant will be the creation of 4,500 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs by the time the factory becomes operational in 2019.
According to the minister, these investments boost Moroccan exports, contributing to a reduction in Morocco’s trade imbalance.
