Moroccan Minister Defends Auto Industry After French Criticism of Renault, PSA Relocations

"We are not just tightening car bolts, as some claim. No gentlemen, our factories manufacture cars with all their components from A to Z and I invite you to visit the factories in Tangier, Kenitra and Nouaceur to discover the Moroccan genius".

These are the words with which Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade, reacted to the remarks of Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, before the Committee on Agriculture and Productive Sectors of the House of Advisors.

According to MHE, "thanks to the wisdom of King Mohammed VI and his instructions to the government to develop industrial plans, Morocco has worked miracles." And these achievements have been, he specifies, made thanks to the competence of the Moroccan workforce, which has impressed the Japanese, Americans and Chinese who have visited Morocco. "Those who are jealous of Morocco are no longer limited to certain countries that orbit around it and treat our country as an adversary or an enemy. This resentment has spread to Western countries," lamented the minister.

"What does that mean? We produce and assemble in Morocco, in Slovakia, in Turkey to reimport into France for commercial purposes. I am not satisfied with a model where the two best-selling vehicles in France - the Peugeot 208 and the Renault Clio - are no longer produced in France," had criticized Bruno Le Maire.