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China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Image from Moroccoworldnews
Fez – The city of Fez will soon have its own 4.0 ecosystem thanks to an ambitious project that brings together the efforts of public and private actors.
The “Fez Smart Factory” (FSF) industrial zone project is set to be developed on the campus of the Euromed University of Fez (UEMF). Organizers hope the project will help transform the entire Fez-Meknes region into a promising growth center.
Behind the success of this platform is a partnership between the General Confederation of Moroccan Companies (CGEM), the Sustainable Industrial Zones Fund (FONZID), the Fès-Meknès Regional Council, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and ALTEN, a software development company.
The project aims to develop a sustainable industrial zone to meet the needs for improving industrial productivity and environmental and social performance, taking advantage of the concepts of industry 4.0 ecosystem. The forecast investment is nearly MAD 104 million ($11.25 million)
Fez Smart Factory is designed to be a startups incubator and accelerator, offering engineering services for industry as well as research and development laboratories.
The project will be established over an area of eleven hectares. It will include a building dedicated to innovative services that can accommodate around forty project leaders, thirty startups, ten engineering companies, five R&D and R&T entities, and around ten investors in the business center.
The start of construction and servicing work is scheduled for early March 2021. The Fez Smart Factory will be ready in March 2023.
“A communication plan has been prepared for the project. This includes around twenty actions, including the press conference held on September 29, 2020. Thus, we will have many opportunities to hold a discussion on the project by examining in detail its different components,” underlines Tijani Bounahmidi, vice-president of the UEMF and coordinator of the FSF project.
The project is co-financed in large part by the Millennium Challenge Account-Morocco Agency (MCA-Morocco) via a contribution from the FONZID.
FSF was set up following a competitive call for projects launched jointly by MCA-Morocco and the Ministry of Industry It also benefited from technical and financial support from FONZID.
Technical support from the UEMF and its platforms at the cutting edge of technology has also been crucial in developing the FSF initiative. The first School of Digital Engineering and Artificial Intelligence in Africa, the Fez-based university is home to Morocco’s largest 3D printing platform.
The project is set to generate more than MAD 5 billion ($0.54 billion) in terms of investments and more than 5,000 direct highly qualified jobs.
