Tangiers – HM King Mohammed VI chaired, on Thursday at the Melloussa rural commune (Fahs Anjra province), the inauguration ceremony of Renault-Nissan Tangiers plant worth 1.1 billion euros. – An industrial capacity of 400,000 cars per year.
– The new plant will generate 6,000 direct jobs and 30,000 indirect ones. – 3.5 billion euros of additional exports in the long run.
– The Sovereign decorates members of the Renault team as well as Moroccan officials who contributed to the project.
With a production capacity of 30 vehicles/hour in 2012 and 60 vehicles/ hour by the end of 2014, that is an industrial capacity in the long run of 400,000 cars per year, the newly-built plant will generate 6,000 direct jobs and 30,000 indirect ones.
Built over 280 hectares, the plant is part of structuring projects, notably the Tanger Med port, aimed at spurring economic development of the northern region. It will turn Morocco into a hub of automobile industry in the region.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance’s CEO Carlos Ghosn gave before the Sovereign a presentation on the plant’s strategic importance for the Alliance and its impact on the northern region’s economic development.
The Melloussa plant will broaden the offer by the entry-level platform, starting with the Lodgy, a 5 to 7 seat-minivan, he underlined, adding that 90 percent of production will be destined for the world’s market and 10 percent for the Moroccan market, in addition to North Africa, the Middle-East and some African countries.
The newly-constructed unit will also create a network of components manufacturers and service-providers.
Minister of Industry, Trade and New Technologies Abdelkader Aâmara affirmed that the plant will generate jobs, attract investments towards the Tangiers’ free trade zone, and boost local competences and trainings. This project gives concrete substance to the national strategy for industry development “Plan Emergence” which seeks to boost the country’s industrial GDP with 50 billion dirhams and create 220,000 jobs. The Tanger Med automobile training institute (IFMIA-TM), a facility constructed to train salaried employees of Renault-Nissan Tanger, has already trained 2,000 employees since November 2009.
Afterwards, HM the King visited the assembly line where details were given to the Sovereign on the specificities of the new models of F67, K67 and Lodgy to be produced by the plant.
A second assembly line, scheduled as of 2013, will increase the number of produced cars from 170,000 to 400,000.
The plant is the first of its kind in terms of slashing CO2 emissions by 98 percent, that is about 135,000 tons of CO2 yearly. No industrial wastewater will be disposed of in nature.
Concerning trade exchanges, the plant will improve Morocco’s balance of trade since 3.5 billion euros of additional exports will be generated in the long run.
HM the King decorated, on this occasion, the members of
the team managing the Renault group and some Moroccan officials who contributed in the implementation of the project.
