HM the King chairs the inauguration ceremony of the Renault-Nissan Tangier factory, mobilizing investments of 1.1 billion euros
HM King Mohammed VI, may God help him, chaired, Thursday in the rural commune of Melloussa (province of Fahs Anjra), the inauguration ceremony of the Renault-Nissan Tangier factory, which mobilizes investments of 1.1 billion euros.
production capacity of 30 vehicles/hour in 2012 and 60 vehicles/hour at the end of 2014, i.e. an ultimately installed industrial capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year, the new factory will allow the creation of 6,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs.
The Renault-Nissan Tangier factory, built on 280 hectares of land, is an integral part of a set of structuring projects, notably the Tangier Med port, intended to support the economic development of the northern region of the Kingdom. It will make it possible to establish Morocco as a full-fledged automotive industrial hub in the region.
At the start of the inauguration ceremony, a film was shown on the genesis of the Renault-Nissan Tangier factory project and the stages of its construction, before the unveiling of a model of the Lodgy vehicle, a 5 to 7-seater minivan which will be produced in the new factory.
Subsequently, the President and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Mr. Carlos Ghosn, presented to the Sovereign a presentation on the strategic importance of the factory for the Alliance and its impact on the economic development of the northern region of Morocco.
The new Melloussa factory, one of the cleanest on the planet, will expand the offering of the entry-level platform, starting with the Lodgy, a 5 to 7-seater minivan, he underlined, adding that 90 pc of the site’s production will be dedicated to the global market and not just European, and 10 pc to the Moroccan market, North Africa, the Middle East, and even some African countries.
The Tangier factory, the first unit built by the Renault Group in the 21st century, will generate some 6,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs in northern Morocco, in addition to the creation of an entire network of equipment manufacturers and service providers around the Renault factory.
Mr. Ghosn did not fail, on this occasion, to salute the excellent collaboration of the Moroccan government and its tireless efforts to ensure the full success of this major project.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and New Technologies, Mr. Abdelkader Aâmara, for his part, highlighted the efforts made by Morocco for the development of the automotive sector, as well as the assets that the Kingdom offers to foreign investors in terms of infrastructure, financing and training.
He thus affirmed that the giant Renault-Nissan factory in Melloussa is likely to create a knock-on effect in terms of job creation, attractiveness of investments towards the Tangier free zone (TFZ) and in terms of creation of added value as well as local skills/training.
This project is a realization of the national development strategy for the industrial sector « Plan Emergence » which aims to increase the country’s industrial GDP by 50 billion dirhams (4.48 billion euros) and create more than 220,000 jobs.
In order to meet the skills needs of Renault and its suppliers, the State has awarded the group the design, construction, equipment, management and maintenance of the Tanger-Med Automotive Training Institute (IFMIA-TM). This Institute, with a capacity of 350 people/day, has started its training activities for Renault employees since March 2011, the date of its inauguration, knowing that nearly 2,000 Renault-Nissan Tangier employees have been trained since November 2009.
In 2011, nearly 310,000 hours of training were provided at IFMIA-TM and in 2012, more than 600,000 hours of training are planned to be carried out at the Institute.
HM the King subsequently visited the assembly training workshop and the assembly line where the Sovereign received explanations on the characteristics of the new F67, K67 and Lodgy models which will be produced in the Melloussa factory.
The result of a partnership between the State of Morocco and the Renault Group, the new factory will initially produce between 150,000 and 170,000 vehicles/year, with three teams taking turns. A second assembly line is planned from 2013 to increase annual production to 340,000 units, or even to 400,000 when working on weekends. This would make it, in terms of capacity, the equivalent of the Flins (Yvelines) or Douai (North) sites in France.
In addition to the production aspect, the Renault-Nissan Tangier plant will be a world first in terms of pollution prevention to the extent that CO2 emissions will be eliminated to 100,98 pc, or around 135,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided per year. No discharge of wastewater of industrial origin will be emitted into the natural environment and the withdrawal of water resources for industrial processes will be reduced by 70 pc.
These results will be obtained thanks to innovations in manufacturing processes, the use of renewable energies as well as optimized management of the water cycle. Furthermore, the car manufacturer Renault has joined forces with the National Electricity Office (ONE) which will provide 100 pc of the site’s electricity needs in wind and hydraulic energy.
In terms of investments in the automotive sector, this project has made it possible to attract new internationally renowned equipment manufacturers, whose planned investment is estimated at 1 billion euros.
In terms of trade, the Renault-Nissan Tangier plant is likely to improve Morocco’s trade balance. In fact, 3.5 billion euros in additional exports will ultimately be generated by this project.
HM the King, may God assist him, proceeded at the same time to decorate the members of the management team of the Renault group and certain Moroccan officials who contributed to the realization of the project.
The Sovereign thus decorated Ouissam Alaouite with the order of officer MM. Christian Esteve and Jacques Chauvet, former presidents of the Euro-Mediterranean zone of the Renault group, Gerard Detourbet, director of the « Logan Monde » program, Christophe Chabert, head of negotiators of the framework agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Renault Group, Michel Faivre Duboz, general director of Renault Morocco, and Edouard Armalet, general director of Renault Tanger.
HM the King also decorated Mr. El Arbi Belarbi, advisor, president of the Euro-Mediterranean zone of the Renault Group, with the Ouissam Al Arch of the Order of Officer. The Sovereign subsequently decorated with the Ouissam of National Merit of the Order of Officer, Mr. Mohamed El Bachiri, Director of Human Resources at Renault Maroc, Mr. Mokhtar Homane, Executive Officer of the Director General of Renault Maroc, Ms. Ouathiqa El Khalfi, Director of Industry at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and New Technologies, Mr. Driss Behaj, Director of Trade and Marketing at ONEP, Mr. Nabil Lakhdar, director of facilitation and IT at the Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes, Mr. Abdellah Lamdaghri, director of engineering and implementation of transport projects at ONE, Ms. Fadila Ben Osmane, director of sanitation and environment at ONEP and Feu Youssef Benchekroun, former member of the board of directors of the Tanger Méditerranée Special Agency, whose Ouissam was received by his widow.
This ceremony took place in the presence of the head of government, Mr. Abdelilah Benkirane, the presidents of the two Houses of Parliament, advisors to HM the King, members of the government, economic operators and other personalities.
02/09/2012
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