Dix conventions of investment in the Fez-Meknes region were signed, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Fez, by the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, with local industrial operators, for an amount of 160 million dirhams and generating nearly 520 direct jobs.
Registered in the bank of projects launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, these new investments aim to strengthen the fabric of SMEs in the region and the industrial sovereignty of the Kingdom.
Supported within the framework of programs such as Istitmar PME and Tatwir Croissance verte, these projects relate to six strategic industrial sectors: chemicals and parachemicals, textiles and clothing, building materials, electrical and electronics, automotive and renewable energies.
“The industrial sovereignty of our country inevitably passes through the SME. These new projects, which we have supported and monitored, are indicative of this. They provide tangible proof of the important role played by SMEs as a vector of regional industrial development and a strong link in its economic dynamics”said Mezzour.
And to emphasize that Fez-Meknes is the 5th national region in terms of projects supported by the Ministry’s Sovereignty Task Force. “Today we have 81 investment projects in this region, 75% of which are financed by Moroccan capital. This represents 5,536 direct jobs and a substitution potential for imports of 2.5 billion dirhams and export at 1.574 billion dirhams. The region of Fez-Meknes confirms its dynamics through the diversity of the industrial sectors which are developing there, thus attesting to its place as an economic pole that creates wealth and employment. We will continue to work together with SMEs to further promote local production”.
Five of the ten projects investments relate to the chemical, plastics and paper and cardboard sectors and relate, among other things, to the creation or extension of production units.
In the textile and clothing sector, the agreement signed aims to create a ready-to-wear clothing unit. As for the building materials and electrical and electronics sectors, the investments concern, respectively, the construction of a marble processing unit and another for the production of digital and intelligent electricity meters.
The two other projects aim to build a production unit for radiators and install a production line for photovoltaic panels.
The signing of these investment agreements was the first step in the working visit made that same day by Mezzour to the Fez-Meknes region. The Minister thus visited the ALSTOM and MAROC MODIS industrial units at the former COTEF and also went to the Ain Cheggag Industrial Park (PIAC) site and the Fez International Exhibition Center to inquire regarding the progress of work on these two projects.
Covering an area of 81ha, the PIAC, made up of two zones, one intended to house the leather sector and the other devoted to generalist activities, aims to create a core of industrial activity in the commune of Ain Cheggag. After being the subject of a development agreement signed in October 2020, the PIAC has undergone major development work, the progress of which has now reached 50% and which is will be completed by the end of this year. A wastewater treatment plant, which will be built within this framework, will be the subject of a call for tenders which will soon be launched by the company Al Omrane.
In addition, a call for expressions of interest was launched by the CRI on March 23, 2022 and closed on April 25, 2022. 123 applications received, in this context, will be examined by the Unified Regional Investment Commission (CRUI) on April 19, 2022. current May. While another call for expression of interest will be launched at the end of this month.
With regard to the International Exhibition Center of Fez, the progress of the construction works of the first two phases relating to the development of the business center and the exhibition hall has reached more than 50%. The third tranche, roads & various networks, is 90% complete, as for that of electricity / public lighting, it is already completed.
The construction work of the ticket offices and forecourt will be launched at the end of May. The fourth phase, consisting of the construction of a large hall of 4000 m², will be the subject of a call for tenders which will be launched in July 2022.
