Creation of more than 115,000 jobs
9 May 2011
Read by 1483 persons
Ahmed Reda Chami, Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies, presented the 2010 report of the National Pact for Industrial Emergence to the sovereign yesterday.
The National Pact for Industrial Emergence closed the year 2010 on a positive note. The report presented to the sovereign yesterday in Casablanca by Ahmed Reda Chami, Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies, on the occasion of the second industrial conferences, suggests that the achievements are there.
Indeed, since 2004, the launch date of the Emergence industrial strategy, the number of jobs created has reached 115,000, compared to more than 100,000 in 2009 and 44,000 in 2004, generated mainly by four key sectors: aeronautics, automotive, electronics, and offshoring.
The analysis of the figures clearly shows that automotive and offshoring jobs account for the lion's share of job creation in 2010, with 51,800 and 46,000 respectively.
Support for textiles and agri-food
Regarding the evolution of exports from Morocco's global trades, the year 2010 saw the value of foreign sales increase by 36% compared to the previous year, reaching 35.5 billion dirhams. The automotive sector takes the largest share, with 18.9 billion dirhams, compared to 6.8 for electronics, 6.2 for aeronautics, and 6.3 for offshoring.
The minister also expressed satisfaction with the progress of other projects in the country's industrial strategy, whether for integrated industrial platforms, training, the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, or the business climate.
Chami points out that more than 1,500 hectares of platforms "have been allocated to developers and are under construction" out of a total of 2,000 hectares initially planned. The platforms include P2I Offshoring (Casablanca, Tetouan, Oujda...), P2I automotive (Tanger automotive city and Atlantic free zone), P2I aeronautics, and general-purpose P2I...
The minister announced the creation of new economic activity zones (ZAE) and the rehabilitation of industrial zones, such as those in El Jadida, Ouarzazate, and Oulad Haddou.
The results of the call for expressions of interest for the selection of projects show 9 selected projects with a total grant of 43.7 billion dirhams.
He also recalled that the Kenitra industrial zone will be ready by the end of September. More than 50 hectares have already been sold, creating more than 5,000 jobs.
However, the progress of the development work on some industrial platforms is facing some obstacles, mainly related to land and financing issues, such as in Casablanca, Fes, and Settat.
On another chapter related to support measures for sectors affected by the global crisis, Chami assured that the textile and agri-food industries, which achieved a 4% increase in their export turnover at the end of the previous year, will benefit this year from support tools mainly from the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments (AMDI), the Regional Investment Centers (CRI), and industrial platform managers. The objective is to create 20,000 new jobs.
Finally, Chami emphasized a number of obstacles that are still hindering the improvement of the business climate in Morocco. The key issue is the complexity of administrative procedures, which remain unjustified and unacceptable, despite the implementation of new laws facilitating business creation.
Published May 6, 2011
Posted online May 9, 2011
lesoir-echos.com
The National Pact for Industrial Emergence closed the year 2010 on a positive note. The report presented to the sovereign yesterday in Casablanca by Ahmed Reda Chami, Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies, on the occasion of the second industrial conferences, suggests that the achievements are there.
Indeed, since 2004, the launch date of the Emergence industrial strategy, the number of jobs created has reached 115,000, compared to more than 100,000 in 2009 and 44,000 in 2004, generated mainly by four key sectors: aeronautics, automotive, electronics, and offshoring.
The analysis of the figures clearly shows that automotive and offshoring jobs account for the lion's share of job creation in 2010, with 51,800 and 46,000 respectively.
Support for textiles and agri-food
Regarding the evolution of exports from Morocco's global trades, the year 2010 saw the value of foreign sales increase by 36% compared to the previous year, reaching 35.5 billion dirhams. The automotive sector takes the largest share, with 18.9 billion dirhams, compared to 6.8 for electronics, 6.2 for aeronautics, and 6.3 for offshoring.
The minister also expressed satisfaction with the progress of other projects in the country's industrial strategy, whether for integrated industrial platforms, training, the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, or the business climate.
Chami points out that more than 1,500 hectares of platforms "have been allocated to developers and are under construction" out of a total of 2,000 hectares initially planned. The platforms include P2I Offshoring (Casablanca, Tetouan, Oujda...), P2I automotive (Tanger automotive city and Atlantic free zone), P2I aeronautics, and general-purpose P2I...
The minister announced the creation of new economic activity zones (ZAE) and the rehabilitation of industrial zones, such as those in El Jadida, Ouarzazate, and Oulad Haddou.
The results of the call for expressions of interest for the selection of projects show 9 selected projects with a total grant of 43.7 billion dirhams.
He also recalled that the Kenitra industrial zone will be ready by the end of September. More than 50 hectares have already been sold, creating more than 5,000 jobs.
However, the progress of the development work on some industrial platforms is facing some obstacles, mainly related to land and financing issues, such as in Casablanca, Fes, and Settat.
On another chapter related to support measures for sectors affected by the global crisis, Chami assured that the textile and agri-food industries, which achieved a 4% increase in their export turnover at the end of the previous year, will benefit this year from support tools mainly from the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments (AMDI), the Regional Investment Centers (CRI), and industrial platform managers. The objective is to create 20,000 new jobs.
Finally, Chami emphasized a number of obstacles that are still hindering the improvement of the business climate in Morocco. The key issue is the complexity of administrative procedures, which remain unjustified and unacceptable, despite the implementation of new laws facilitating business creation.
Published May 6, 2011
Posted online May 9, 2011
lesoir-echos.com
