Rabat – A group of Moroccan inventors and engineers have designed and manufactured a 100% made in Morocco machine for producing face masks, Morocco’s Minister of Industry, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, announced on July 8.
The automated machine manufactures high quality face masks with a doubled ear band, Elalamy wrote on Facebook after meeting with the team behind the invention.
بتوجيه من الوزارة، قام فريق من الصُّناع والمهندسين بتصميم وتصنيع آلة 100%مغربية الصنع لإنتاج الكمامات الواقية برِباط أذن…
Posted by Moulay Hafid Elalamy on Wednesday, 8 July 2020
“The project consecrates a technological and industrial success that allows for the national face mask industry to surpass the level of manual production and include automated processes,” the minister wrote.
The machine includes 400 mechanical, electronic, and pneumatic parts. All the parts are locally-manufactured and designed by Moroccan engineers.
“National industry today is making a quality technological leap,” Elalamy said.
The team behind the Moroccan invention includes engineers and technicians from several national companies, including precision mechanics firm SERMP, aeronautical company Aviarail, car manufacturer Somaca, development agency ONYX, and the Moroccan Association for Nonwoven Fabric Manufacturers.
According to Elalamy, the invention places Morocco even closer to reaching its goal of developing national industry to a level that would negate the need for certain imports.
On July 6, the minister announced that, in the coming years, Morocco could save MAD 43 billion ($4.45 billion) by strengthening its domestic manufacturing capacity and reducing imports.
“We import MAD 43 billion of products that could be made in Morocco in the upcoming years,” Elalamy said before the House of Representatives.
He revealed that, with an investment of MAD 22 billion ($2.28 billion), Moroccan industry could meet the domestic demand for some imported products, significantly reducing Morocco’s foreign expenses.
“We have business plans and we know precisely what we need to do to stop importing [the products]. We will work on this in the upcoming weeks and we will launch the project, addressing it to Moroccan youth and investors,” the minister added.
