Rabat – Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani presented the 2021-2025 Industrial Acceleration Plan (PAI) and outlined the direction this phase of the plan will take. He also spotlighted the results of the plan’s first phase (2014-2020).
El Othmani made the presentation in front of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, December 31.
The second phase of the plan focuses mainly on “the consolidation of the achievements made within the framework of the first phase of the plan and their generalization to all regions, by integrating small and medium enterprises and by placing industry at the heart of technological transformations,” said El Othmani.
رئيس الحكومة: التقارير الوطنية والدولية تشيد بمخطط التسريع الصناعي لبلادنا
رئيس الحكومة: التقارير الوطنية والدولية تشيد بمخطط التسريع الصناعي لبلادنا
Posted by رئيس الحكومة المغربية on Tuesday, 31 December 2019
The official explained the new plan will be developed and implemented in partnership with each region and aims to strengthen and integrate Moroccan capital in industry.
The plan will also encourage the creation of new sectors, with an emphasis on the regional dimension, in order to guarantee industrial development on a national scale, he added.
The new phase is set to develop research and innovation, along with promoting technological capacities through the launch of new systems oriented towards the future and the adoption of new modes of production. Additionally, the protection of Morocco’s natural resources will be a priority, noted El Othmani.
The 2014-2020 plan results
After recalling the importance of industry in Morocco, giving examples of the Emergence Plan, launched in 2005, and the National Pact for Industrial Emergence, launched in 2009, El Othmani presented the results of the 2014-2020 PAI.
The first phase “aimed to build an efficient and competitive industry to generate jobs, increase the industrial share in the national Gross Domestic Product, and improve Morocco’s attractiveness for investments,” recalled the official.
The 2014-2020 plan also focused on improving the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises by facilitating their access to finance and mobilizing more than 1,000 hectares of rental industrial land.
“It created 54 industrial systems in partnership with 32 professional associations and universities in various sectors,” added the head of government.
In the automobile industry, El Othmani revealed that the plan increased the vehicle production capacity to 700,000 units per year and that Morocco can now produce one car every 90 seconds.
More than 117,000 jobs were created in the sector between 2014 and 2018, exceeding the target of 90,000 jobs that was set for 2020, he added. Automobile export revenue also increased to MAD 72 billion (around €7 billion) in 2018, from MAD 40 billion (around €4 billion) in 2014.
For the aeronautical industry, sales grew by 20% per year, reaching MAD 19 billion (around €2 billion) in revenue in 2019, against only MAD 11 billion (around €1 billion) in 2017. The sector helped to create around 17,000 jobs in 2019 and attract 142 international investments.
The plan allowed the creation of 1,200 new textile companies, employing more than 185,000 Moroccans. Textiles represent 15% of Morocco’s industrial exports, announced El Othmani.
In the food industry, three agreements generated MAD 259 million (around €24 million) during the plan phase and created 780 direct jobs.
Phosphates, a staple of the Moroccan economy, attracted MAD 74 billion (around €7 billion) in investments between 2014 and 2019. The investments concerned 12 different projects that now employ 7,800 Moroccans.
Finally, offshoring has attracted MAD 11 million (around €1 million) of investments from foreign companies in 2018, with an increase of more than 20% per year, concluded El Othmani.
