TANGER MED INDUSTRIAL PLATFORM RANKS 2ND SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE IN THE WORLD

19 October 2020

Digitalization

Financial Times’ FDI Intelligence published this week the “FDI Global Free Zones of the Year 2020” ranking the most attractive economic zones in the world. This report compares nearly 100 economic zones based on international benchmarks and measures the adequacy of their value proposition with investors’ expectations.

Tanger Med Zones, located in the North of Morocco, is ranked 2^nd world economic zone after “Dubai Multi Commodities Center” in the United Arab Emirates, while it was ranked 5^TH last year. The 3^RD place goes to “Katowice Special Economic Zone” in Poland and 4^TH place to “Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone” in China.

The FT FDI reports for Tanger Med industrial platform that

”This is the first time an African zone ranks that high in the ranking, which is testament to the tremendous rise of the network of zones developed by operator Tanger Med around the Tanger Med port on the Gibraltar Strait, one of Africa’s busiest”

Other bespoke distinctions additionally awarded to Tanger Med Zones include:

#1 World Free Zone for Large Tenants which collects data on industrial investors employing more than 250 employees globally, a turnover of more than $55.8M and/or taking more than 5000sq ft of space in the zone;

Specialism Award in Automotive thanks to the dynamism of an established automotive ecosystem of tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers serving a large base of OEM including Ford, VW Group, Renault and PSA;

The platform also won the 1^st African prize for SME’s due to the quality infrastructure and the commercial opportunities offered

Tanger Med Zones is developed over an area of 20 Million m² and encompasses 6 activity zones. It is home to more than 1 000 companies active in the sectors of automotive, aeronautics, logistics, textile and trade. Large multinationals such as Siemens Gamesa, Magnetti Marelli, Valeo, TI Automotive, APTIV, Sumitomo Electric have established manufacturing and export hubs.

The recorded annual export turnover in 2019 is in excess of 8.8 B USD and allowed creation of more than 80,000 jobs to date. The platform has attracted more than 6.2 B USD of industrial FDI from Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain,…), USA, Asia, etc.

This regional competitiveness platform, backed by the leading port complex in the Mediterranean and Africa, has significant assets. It guarantees a strong value proposition in line with the high expectations of global players. It stood out for the quality of its integrated services, its qualitative infrastructure as well as its unique geographical location offering investors a 14 km sea bridge to Europe, and maritime connectivity to more than 180 ports and 70 countries.

This recognition further strengthens the competitive positioning of the Tanger Med industrial platform in the reconfiguration of global supply chains, in particular in the Euro-Mediterranean area in the post COVID 19 era.