Job Promotion: Signing of Five Agreements
The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Jamal Rhmani, chaired the signing ceremony of five framework partnership agreements on Wednesday in El Jadida. The agreements were between the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills (ANAPEC), South Korean (Daewoo), Turkish (Tekfen), German (AE Photonics), and American (Jacobs Engineering S.A. JESA) groups, and the El Jadida Industrial Zone Association (AZIJ).
These five agreements, signed in the presence of the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Jamal Rhmani, are part of the region's strategy. This strategy aims to create 10,000 jobs by 2013 and 50,000 jobs by 2015, within the framework of the Jorf Lasfar industrial megapark project.
Speaking at the opening of a seminar on "El Jadida, a promising employment pool," the governor of the El Jadida province, Mouad Jamai, highlighted the province's potential. He specifically mentioned the 117-hectare El Jadida industrial zone, which will be expanded by 90 hectares, and the 500-hectare industrial park in Jorf Lasfar. He also noted that ANAPEC, Daewoo, Tekfen, AE Photonics, Jacobs Engineering S.A, and AZIJ are synergizing their efforts, resources, and means to benefit from the Royal will to make employment a national priority. The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training emphasized the momentum generated by these partnership agreements in the employment sector. He stated that the signing of the five partnership agreements will promote job development and support significant investment programs in the province.
Mr. Rhmani also emphasized that to support sectoral development plans in all regions of the Kingdom regarding infrastructure development, public investment increased from 83 billion DH in 2007 to 167 billion DH in 2011. This is to attract and encourage foreign investors and promote the establishment of several national and international groups offering job opportunities requiring better skills. That is why the vocational training department has implemented a strategy to train 750,000 young people by 2012-2013, added the minister. The South Korean ambassador highlighted the excellent relations between the two countries, which continue to develop in economic, technical, cultural, scientific, and commercial fields. He indicated that Daewoo's establishment in Jorf Lasfar will contribute to the economic development of the El Jadida province by creating a significant number of jobs. The ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Morocco stated that the free trade agreement between Morocco and Turkey, which came into effect on January 1, 2006, has boosted Moroccan-Turkish commercial relations. He specified that the volume of trade in 2010 reached 624 million dollars in Turkish exports and 397 million dollars in Moroccan exports.
At this seminar, a first agreement was established with Daewoo Engineering Construction CO to provide nearly 3,000 direct jobs initially. The South Korean company is responsible for adding two new power production units (5 and 6) with a capacity of 700 MW to the JLEC thermal power plant in Jorf Lasfar. The project is estimated at approximately 13 billion DH, and the thermal power plant has a total capacity of 1,300 MW.
Four other significant agreements were signed during the same event. The second agreement, with the Turkish company Tekfen, which won a $170 million contract from OCP for the construction of two fertilizer plants in Jorf Lasfar, initially concerns the mobilization of 1,700 people on the Jorf Lasfar site. Tekfen won the bid for the Khouribga-Jorf Lasfar pipeline, which extends over 180 km and is expected to be operational in 2013. It will be used for hydraulic transport of phosphate production from Khouribga to Jorf Lasfar. The third agreement was signed with AE Photonics Morocco, a subsidiary of a leading German photovoltaic industry group. This company plans to start with a first production line in October 2011, employing 250 people. This number will reach approximately 700 in the second year, after the addition of two additional units. The fourth agreement was signed with the American group Jacobs Engineering S.A. It concerns supporting ANAPEC in mobilizing 200 people initially on the Jorf Lasfar site. The last agreement was signed with AZIJ and aims to establish a framework defining the axes of partnership between the two parties, particularly in terms of information exchange.
Meeting the needs of businesses: ANAPEC intends to use all its resources to meet the needs of businesses. It will have well-defined missions. It will support Daewoo Engineering Construction CO, the Turkish company Tekfen, the Moroccan subsidiary of the German group AE Photonics, the American group Jacobs Engineering S.A (JESA), and the El Jadida Industrial Zone Association (AZIJ) in their recruitment policies to meet the predefined needs of these groups. This role will include supporting groups in their recruitment policies to meet predefined needs, disseminating job offers, contributing to the financing of contractual training for employment ("à la carte" training) allowing these groups to provide additional training to adjust the profiles of recruits to the positions to be filled, constantly informing the three groups of all current and future measures to encourage and incentivize businesses to recruit, creating a database on this subject, identifying the required profiles, and pre-selecting candidates. Registration is open to all professions related to these five companies. If local profiles are unavailable, the entire ANAPEC network across Morocco will be mobilized to meet the needs of these major investors.
Published March 11, 2011
Posted online March 11, 2011
