King Mohammed VI, on Thursday afternoon, launches in Kenitra (north-west), the new PSA Group factory, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles and engines; he also inaugurated the extension work of this state of the art industrial complex, whose production capacity will be doubled in 2021, generating 4,000 jobs.
“The infrastructure, the PSA factory and its subcontractors’ facilities were put in place in line with the agreed conditions and time limits,” four years after the signing of a strategic agreement, on June 19, 2015, between the Moroccan State and the PSA Group, the Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and Digital Economy, Moulay Hafid Elalamy said in his speech.
According to Mr. Elalamy the French group PSA has invested three billion dirham and plans to invest as much in its future projects in Morocco, insisting that the new Kenitra plant was designed to produce both thermal and electric vehicles, thus reinforcing the industrial ambition of the Kingdom, and the King’s strong will to make Morocco a model on the continent, in terms of sustainable development.
“The results achieved by the implementation of PSA are substantial,” the minister said, noting that the vehicles produced in the PSA plant benefit from an integration rate of more than 60 percent (80 percent eventually). He indicated that 27 new factories of ten nationalities have already been set up in Kenitra, and that the R & D Center, which was originally meant to employ 1,500 engineers and technicians, now employs 2,300 people, 85 percent of whom are engineers.
PSA purchases of parts manufactured in Morocco reached €700 million for 2018, well above expectations, he added, noting that the goal of €1billion of purchases will be reached before 2025.
“The new factory benefits from the country’s development momentum, thanks in particular to the high-speed rail line that frees the rails between Kenitra and the port of Tangiers on the Mediterranean Sea. It also benefits from the reform in vocational training that will improve the competitiveness of industrial ecosystems,” he went on.
In response, PSA Executive Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Jean-Christophe Quemard, declared that the vision of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI “to develop efficient economic ecosystems is now a reality for PSA with all its components, starting with the most important one, the professional training of men and women who will make the future of the automotive industry with the promise of rich careers in this sector.
Mr. Quemard reiterated that Morocco is, more than ever, “at the heart of PSA’s growth strategy, which is one of the world’s most successful car manufacturers,” adding that it is in this Kingdom “that our Group has chosen to set up its regional decision center, to develop a research and development center integrated into the PSA Group’s global R & D network.”
The inauguration ceremony was marked by the unveiling of the new Peugeot 208, a car produced in the Kenitra factory.
Subsequently, HM the King was greeted by representatives of PSA Group equipment manufacturers who settled in the integrated industrial platform dubbed “Atlantic Free Zone.” He then visited the various workshops of the factory, before taking a photo-souvenir with PSA staff.
The structuring ecosystem organized around PSA in the Morocco is a new success achieved in the automotive industry. The exports of this automotive sector, which currently employs a total of 189,600 people, doubled between 2013 and 2018, jumping from 31.7 billion dirham to 65.1 billion dirham, making it the Kingdom’s leading export sector for the 4th consecutive year.
ARD/te/fss/abj/APA