Morocco attracts Russian vehicle makers

The Russian company “Kamaz”, which specializes in the manufacture of vehicles and heavy and light trucks, expressed its interest in entering the Moroccan market, noting that it is working to enter new markets in Africa, headed by Morocco, according to the Russian “TASS” agency.

In a similar context, the newspaper “Ezvisteia” indicated that there is an increase in the popularity of Russian -made vehicles in Morocco, stressing that the aforementioned company showed great interest in the Moroccan market, as it studies the export of trucks and buses to this market.

It was recorded, quoting official data, that Morocco imported more than 1,000 Russian cars in 2018, noting that many major Russian companies in the automotive industry are also interested in Morocco, including the “Gas” company, which works to promote a line of light commercial vehicles in the Kingdom, in its cooperation with one of its distributors, in addition to the “Aftovaz” company, which in turn bet on expanding the African markets.

Interacting with this issue, Rashid Sari, a researcher in economic affairs, said that “a group of auto and trucks manufacturers in the world has become rushing to invest in Morocco as a result of a number of factors, most notably the strategic commercial site of the Kingdom, in addition to its availability of qualified qualifications and human resources in this field, then the climate of business and distinguished industrial structures.”

“The actors in this industry in Russia had had negotiations with the Moroccan side in order to facilitate their entry into the national markets,” Kamaz “, for example, has great aspirations for investment in the Kingdom, but these negotiations are expected to be decided by some details related to the nature of the product that will be manufactured and collected in Morocco.

He continued, “Most of the Russian company, which is active in the manufacture of vehicles, depends on traditional industrial methods that depend on fossil energy, while there is a global and Moroccan bet on reducing dependence on fossil energies and compensating them for renewable energies. From here we are talking about electric cars, which Morocco embraces a number of projects that enter its production chain, similar to car batteries.

The researcher in economic affairs recorded that “one of the problems that may be strongly raised between the Moroccan and Russian sides is the currency that will be dealt with in light of the presence of a Russian trend to deal with local currencies instead of the dollar and international currencies”, highlighting that “the delay in the negotiations that lasted for years is not a significant positive indication, and indicates that there are conditions that Morocco puts on the table or facilities that the Russians demand in this regard.”