Recently, GREEM and China EV100 organized an overseas study tour of Morocco‘s automotive industry, traveling to Rabat and Casablanca from July 20 to 23 for a four-day in-depth industrial investigation.
The study tour focused on opportunities in Morocco’s new energy vehicle industry, with intensive engagement with local leading enterprises, the automobile dealers association, major power battery manufacturers, the Chinese embassy, national-level investment agencies, regional industrial platforms, vehicle manufacturing bases, and international financial institutions. The delegation conducted on-site visits to local vehicle assembly plants, systematically assessed local investment policies and market potential, precisely connected with full-chain industrial resources, and continued to consolidate the foundation for China-Morocco NEV industry cooperation.
01 Dialogue with National Investment Promotion Agency AMDIE, Unlocking Full-Cycle Policy Support for Market Entry
The delegation held a dedicated symposium with the Moroccan Investment and Export Development Agency (AMDIE). Ms. Maria OUAZZANI CHAHDI, Head of the Automotive and Industry Department at AMDIE, provided a detailed overview of Morocco’s business environment, the top-level planning for the automotive industry, foreign investment support policies, and the cross-ministerial coordination system.
She noted that the automotive industry is a core industry for Morocco, and that Morocco is the only country in Africa with a complete power battery industry chain, with well-established supporting industrial systems for vehicles, components, and energy storage. As the official agency responsible for coordinating national investment promotion and export development, AMDIE can provide overseas investors with one-stop, full-cycle services covering project approval, plant construction, and production operations, and assist enterprises in applying for national-level industrial subsidies. In response to the overseas expansion needs of Chinese industrial chain enterprises, AMDIE will continue to establish regular official liaison channels, integrate resources across multiple industrial sectors, and promote deeper and more practical cooperation between the two sides.
02 Meeting with CRI RSK, the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Regional Investment Center, Tapping into Location Advantages and Industrial Cluster Dividends
At the exchange forum with the Regional Investment Center of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (CRI RSK), Mr. Mohcine BENJELLOUN, Director of the Investment Promotion Agency, elaborated on Morocco’s unique geographical advantages in connecting European and African markets, its competitive edge derived from multiple EU free trade agreements, and its increasingly mature automotive industrial ecosystem.
Mr. Idriss Addahbi, Head of the Regional Integrated Industrial Investment Promotion and Development Department, further shared Morocco’s overall automotive industry strength, the core industrial base of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region, the expansion dividends and investment opportunities from the Stellantis Kenitra plant, and tailored support policies for automakers.
Building on this face-to-face exchange, GREEM and China EV100 reached multiple cooperation agreements with CRI RSK: the two sides will deepen long-term cooperation based on industrial development needs, promote high-level mutual visits, jointly organize industrial branding events, establish a regular communication mechanism, and continuously facilitate precise supply-demand matchmaking between Chinese and Moroccan enterprises.
03 Visiting Casablanca Finance City (CFC), Exploring a New Model of Coordinated “Tech + Finance” Overseas Expansion
The delegation visited Casablanca Finance City (CFC) and held in-depth discussions with Business Development Advisor Ghita Bourkaid. The advisor provided a comprehensive introduction to Morocco‘s national development strategy, business environment, and the functions of the CFC platform, with a particular focus on analyzing the opportunities and challenges faced by Chinese enterprises in establishing operations locally.
He noted that while Morocco’s domestic market is limited in size, it serves as an excellent springboard for Chinese enterprises to enter the African market and reach European markets. A significant number of Chinese-invested enterprises have already achieved rapid business growth by collaborating with local distributors. Morocco is currently placing strong emphasis on emerging sectors such as new energy and digital technology innovation, and is home to a top-tier research platform — University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P).
Founded and funded by the phosphate giant OCP Group, UM6P is a national-level vehicle for the commercialization of scientific research成果 in Morocco, with a strategic focus on cutting-edge fields including clean energy, green hydrogen, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and big data. It can provide comprehensive support for NEV enterprises in localized R&D, vehicle operating condition adaptation, and industry-academia-research commercialization. Both sides agreed on the spot to establish a regular expert coordination mechanism for the periodic exchange of information on industrial policies, technological R&D, and investment opportunities, thereby opening up a channel for cross-border joint technology R&D.
04 Continuously Building a Government-Business Collaboration Network to Empower Chinese Automakers in Establishing a Foothold in North Africa and Expanding into Europe
Looking ahead, GREEM and China EV100 will continue to leverage their industrial platform resource integration advantages, deepen long-term coordination with Morocco’s three core official platforms — AMDIE, CRI RSK, and CFC — and continuously aggregate first-hand intelligence on North African automotive industry policies, supply-demand dynamics across the industrial chain, investment subsidies, and tech-innovation support. This will enable precise matching with the overseas expansion needs of domestic vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, energy storage companies, and battery recycling enterprises.
Leveraging the multi-tiered government-business communication channels established during this study tour, the team will continue to advance high-level mutual visits, cross-border industrial forums, industry-academia-research technology cooperation, and localized component supply chain matchmaking. This will build a stable and efficient cooperation bridge for China‘s NEV industry chain to establish a foothold in North Africa and expand into the European market, propelling China-Morocco green automotive industrial collaboration into a new phase.
Moroccan Investment and Export Development Agency (AMDIE)
National-level top investment promotion authority, coordinating top-level investment policies across Morocco’s automotive, new energy, and energy storage industries, and liaising with cross-ministerial bodies including the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA)and the specialized energy storage department. It can provide Chinese vehicle, power battery, and energy storage enterprises with full-cycle services including national-level subsidy applications, foreign investment project endorsement, cross-ministerial coordination, and free trade policy support for vehicle exports, resolving challenges such as fragmented multi-agency liaison and opaque policy information.
Regional Investment Center of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra (CRI RSK)
Regional, operation-oriented industrial landing service platform with jurisdiction over the Kenitra Atlantic Free Zone, the core automotive industrial cluster in North Africa. It has first-hand access to industrial land, local auto parts suppliers, and industrial subsidies. Leveraging the industrial cluster advantages of the Stellantis vehicle production base, it assists Chinese component enterprises in integrating into the global procurement systems of European automakers, provides targeted industrial worker training, simultaneously supports the implementation of national policies, and facilitates the entire process from project construction to production launch.
Casablanca Finance City (CFC)
A North African international integrated finance and technology innovation platform. Enterprises established within CFC are eligible for fiscal and tax incentives including corporate income tax reductions, unrestricted foreign exchange remittances, and cross-border profit repatriation, complemented by full-chain legal, auditing, and cross-border investment and financing services. In collaboration with the national-level research institution UM6P, it provides localized technology co-development and pilot-scale implementation services for new energy and intelligent connected vehicle enterprises, making it an ideal location for companies to establish regional marketing and R&D headquarters for North Africa.
