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Meknes – Financial Times’ FDI Intelligence announced Morocco’s Tangier Med Zones to be the second-leading “global free zone,” after ranking fifth last year.
The evaluation came in FDI Intelligence’s “FDI Global Free Zones of the Year 2020” report, released on Thursday.
The assessment compared almost 100 industrial zones based on “international benchmarks and measures and the adequacy of their value proposition with investors’ expectations.” The Dubai Multi Commodities Center claimed the title of the world top’s FDI free zone for the sixth consecutive year.
Regarding Tangier Med’s position, FDI Intelligence said that “this is the first time an African zone ranks that high in the ranking, which is testament to the tremendous rise of the network of zones developed by operator Tanger Med around the Tanger Med port on the Gibraltar Strait, one of Africa’s busiest.”
Four integrated ventures comprise the Tangier Med Zones: The Tangier Free Zone, the Tangier Automotive City, Tetouan Park, and Tetouan Shore.
Tangier Med’s network of zones also ranked first worldwide in the Large Tenant category. FDI Intelligence based the ranking on data of “large tenants,” meaning those who employ more than 250 people, see a minimum turnover of $55.8 million annually, and/or occupy more than 465 square meters of space in the zone.
The “Specialism Award in Automotive” also went to Tangier Med Zones, for a dynamic automotive ecosystem with 100 equipment manufacturers working for international car companies.
The report emphasized that Tangier Med expanded “Tangier Automotive City” and established an automotive logistics platform.
Tangier Med Zones “also won the 1st African prize for SMEs due to the quality infrastructure and the commercial opportunities offered,” according to Tangier Med’s website. The FDI Intelligence report pointed out that Tangier Med Zone established a COVID-19 fund of €35 million to support SMEs and start-ups.
Tangier Med’s six activity zones occupy 20 million square meters. The port connects more than 1,000 companies operating in the automotive, aeronautics, logistics, textile, and trade fields.
The hub connects large multinationals such as Siemens Gamesa, Magnetti Marelli, Valeo, TI Automotive, APTIV, and Sumitomo Electric.
On August 31, Tangier Med’s annual financial report showed that the port performed positively despite the COVID-19 crisis, reaching an annual turnover of MAD 1.16 billion ($127 million) by the end of June.
The figure represents a 2% increase compared to 2019. The report attributed the positive figures to the port’s increase in cargo traffic, despite its drop in passenger traffic.
