Head of Department for Bilateral Trade Relations at Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The “Shanghai of #Morocco,” less than half an hour’s drive from the #port city of Tangier, is for now little more than a #construction site. But fast-forward a couple of years and the industrial park — officially named “Cité Mohammed VI Tanger Tech” after the country’s king — could already be teeming with Chinese #auto component-makers and #electriccar battery-producers. Beijing is fully aware of the prospect of growing restrictions, with Chinese #investment in Morocco’s #electricvehicle sector booming. Just this month, Beijing’s Gotion High-Tech signed a deal with the government to build the country’s first EV #battery gigafactory, at a total cost of $1.3 billion. Morocco’s #tradeagreements with European countries and the U.S. were among the decisive factors that helped get the Gotion deal over the line, Mohcine Jazouli, the country’s minister delegate in charge of investment, said at the signing ceremony. A person from the Chinese business sector, who was not authorized to speak publicly, called investment in Morocco a “good option” to maintain access to the EU’s EV market, arguing that it’s “already on the radar of some EV-makers” and allows access to “other markets beyond #Europe.” To Chinese companies, finding ways to skirt #tariffs and trade restrictions through backdoor manufacturing hubs is a familiar game. Every tenth car sold in Mexico, for example, is Chinese. Although no Chinese auto firm has started manufacturing vehicles there yet, the country’s proximity to the U.S. is ringing alarm bells in Washington. A similar story is now unfolding on Europe’s doorstep, just across the Strait of Gibraltar. Stability, geographical proximity to a key market, a rich industrial landscape and cheap labor — that’s exactly what Morocco offers, according to Christian Géraud Neema Byamungu, an expert on China-Africa relations and the Francophone Africa editor of the China Global South Project. As gaining access to key markets is key to justifying the higher cost of producing abroad, Morocco’s abundance of cheap labor — caused by a six-year drought that has pushed farmers out of employment and sent unemployment rates soaring — is a decisive factor. Quoting Mezzour, Chinese state media Xinhua said Chinese manufacturers benefited from the low cost of making batteries, which is 50 percent cheaper than in Europe. #marketaccess
