Moroccan leather industry zone’s future in doubt
14/07/2009
A special tanning district to be set up in Aïn Cheggag in Morocco is behind schedule and the project’s future may now be in doubt.
The Aïn Cheggag tanning district, close to Fes, should have opened several months ago, but reports in local media suggest that the business community in Morocco’s third-largest city is beginning to have doubts that the project will ever reach a successful conclusion.
Abdelkader Hajjoubi, president of the footwear industry section of Fes Leather Industries Association (AICF), said: “A year ago, the industry ministry promised to launch the project in the shortest possible time.” He expressed disappointment that the promise of turning Fes into a key leather industry centre may not be fulfilled.
Plans for establishing a leather industrial centre on the site have been in place since 2001. Local leather industry bodies and Unido were involved in drawing these up with Morocco’s industry ministry.
There was little progress until the government decided to resurrect the idea in 2006, sparking a series of meetings between industry representatives and local authorities.
The AICF and the Moroccan Leather Industries Federation (Fedic) have said that they envisaged a site covering 50 hectares, with a centralised production area equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and water-treatment facilities.
“We felt sure that, once this project was complete, it would definitely contribute to improving the competitiveness of operators in the sector,” said Mr Hajjoubi. “This is a sector that has an important place in the tranformation of the economy in Fes, with 117 factories, which is close to 20% of all the industrial facilities in Fes.”
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