06 June 2005
Morocco - Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou presided on Friday the signing ceremony in Tangier of a partnership agreement calling for the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development to finance an additional MAD 1.4 billion of the Tangier Mediterranean harbor. HM King Mohammed VI launching Tangier Med Port project on Feb. 2003. The agreement was signed by Abdelouahed Kebbaj, chairman of the Fund's managing board, and Said El-Hadi, chairman of the Tangier-Med Special Agency's managing board.
The ceremony was attended by members of the Moroccan government and Abdelaziz Mezian Belfkih, counselor of HM King Mohamed VI and chairman of the Fund's supervisory board. The delegation of officials headed by Jettou toured the building site following the signature of the convention.
The financial scheme of the agreement, which is expected to help finance the building of a first section of a free-zone program, calls for a MAD 750 million capital increase of TMSA, while the Fund will extend a MAD 650 million credit. It had already contributed MAD 2 billion to the MAD 12 billion infrastructure project.
The Tangier-Med harbor, sited halfway between the two major northern cities of Tangier and Tetouan, is of titanic proportions and its operations slated for July, 2007, are expected to have positive repercussions on the Northern region. It has a logistic free zone of 90 hectares, an industrial zone of 600 hectares, and a duty-free zone of 200 hectares. The port will be linked by a 65 km motorway to that connecting Tangier and the capital Rabat.
On September 14, 2004, the government signed in Rabat an agreement with the Islamic Bank of Development for a USD 65 million loan to finance part of a 45 km long railroad link to Tangier. Bouygues of France won in June 2003 an estimated contract of MAD 2.42 billion for the building of the Mediterranean harbor, while a consortium led by the Danish group Mearsk signed on Jan. 26, 2004, a contract with TMSA by virtue of which it will manage operations of the first port terminal for a 30 year period.
The consortium, in which Moroccan conglomerate Akwa has a 10% stake, made the pledge to invest 120 million euro by 2007 and 150 million by 2010 in order to reach by the first year of operations a high capacity of container-handling totaling 1.5 million foot equivalent unit (FEU).
A Belgo-Moroccan consortium, made up of Moroccan SOMAGEC and the Belgian BESIX, won on March 19, 2004, a MAD 950 million contract (85.6 million euro) to build equipments of the port. They will be in charge of building a 1,600-meter quay of the container terminal and the truck terminal.
Many benefits are expected from the project, and the region's residents have high hopes it will result in the creation of new jobs. Government estimations expect Tangier-Med to create 150,000 jobs in the long run, 12,000 of which will be directly involved in the port's operations.
Morocco - Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou presided on Friday the signing ceremony in Tangier of a partnership agreement calling for the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development to finance an additional MAD 1.4 billion of the Tangier Mediterranean harbor. HM King Mohammed VI launching Tangier Med Port project on Feb. 2003. The agreement was signed by Abdelouahed Kebbaj, chairman of the Fund's managing board, and Said El-Hadi, chairman of the Tangier-Med Special Agency's managing board.
The ceremony was attended by members of the Moroccan government and Abdelaziz Mezian Belfkih, counselor of HM King Mohamed VI and chairman of the Fund's supervisory board. The delegation of officials headed by Jettou toured the building site following the signature of the convention.
The financial scheme of the agreement, which is expected to help finance the building of a first section of a free-zone program, calls for a MAD 750 million capital increase of TMSA, while the Fund will extend a MAD 650 million credit. It had already contributed MAD 2 billion to the MAD 12 billion infrastructure project.
The Tangier-Med harbor, sited halfway between the two major northern cities of Tangier and Tetouan, is of titanic proportions and its operations slated for July, 2007, are expected to have positive repercussions on the Northern region. It has a logistic free zone of 90 hectares, an industrial zone of 600 hectares, and a duty-free zone of 200 hectares. The port will be linked by a 65 km motorway to that connecting Tangier and the capital Rabat.
On September 14, 2004, the government signed in Rabat an agreement with the Islamic Bank of Development for a USD 65 million loan to finance part of a 45 km long railroad link to Tangier. Bouygues of France won in June 2003 an estimated contract of MAD 2.42 billion for the building of the Mediterranean harbor, while a consortium led by the Danish group Mearsk signed on Jan. 26, 2004, a contract with TMSA by virtue of which it will manage operations of the first port terminal for a 30 year period.
The consortium, in which Moroccan conglomerate Akwa has a 10% stake, made the pledge to invest 120 million euro by 2007 and 150 million by 2010 in order to reach by the first year of operations a high capacity of container-handling totaling 1.5 million foot equivalent unit (FEU).
A Belgo-Moroccan consortium, made up of Moroccan SOMAGEC and the Belgian BESIX, won on March 19, 2004, a MAD 950 million contract (85.6 million euro) to build equipments of the port. They will be in charge of building a 1,600-meter quay of the container terminal and the truck terminal.
Many benefits are expected from the project, and the region's residents have high hopes it will result in the creation of new jobs. Government estimations expect Tangier-Med to create 150,000 jobs in the long run, 12,000 of which will be directly involved in the port's operations.
Morocco Times 2005
