The future Tangier-Mediterranean port will allow Morocco to play the card "hinterland of Europe" to improve its competitiveness, thanks to connected logistics, attract more investments and create jobs, affirmed the president of the Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency (TMSA), Sad Elhadi.
In an interview with the French weekly magazine Jeune Afrique, the TMSA's president stressed that the port, with a capacity of 3.5 million containers, 500,000 trucks and five million passengers, will serve as a platform linking Asia, America, Europe and Africa and a hub for international oil offshore traffic.
"The port and the free zones will also help create some 150,000 jobs by 2020 and accomodate 1,000 enterprises.
"At its cruising speed, the port will achieve a sales turnover of about Euro 100 million, and it is only a tool in the service of regional development," Elhadi said.
He underlined that the added value will come especially from the real estate, industries, service enterprises, trade, etc, adding that these permanent incomes will be reinvested.
Elhadi stressed the Tangier-Med project cannot succeed if the residents' vital needs are not satisfied.
In this context, it is envisaged "not only to develop the principal cities of the region, but also to create three new urban centres along the highway.
The urban centres will benefit from road, rail electric, drinking water and liquid waste treatment networks set up for Tangier-Med, he explained.
As for the development of free zones, Elhadi said they will offer local enterprises the opportunity to develop themselves and gain in competitiveness, while remaining on the Moroccan territory.
"We will make sure that regulations facilitate the setting up of Moroccan companies in free zones and help them to conquer international markets," he concluded.
Tangier-Mediterranean port
The MAD 12 billion Tangier-Med port project is of great proportions: a logistic free zone of 90 hectares; an industrial zone of 600 hectares (20 km away from the port), a commercial duty-free zone of 200 hectares (15 km away from the port) and tourism facilities in Fnideq.
The project aims to position the North of Morocco as a logistic platform for the European market with its hundreds of millions of consumers, based on the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union which came into force in 2000. This project will also develop the tourism industry and boost exports, by providing an efficient port for free zones and Moroccan economic centres.
TMSA, established on Sept. 10, 2002, is the project manager for the building and development of the port. It is also in charge of the development of the free zones. The Tangier-Med project is expected to complete before Dec. 31, 2006.
In addition to building the infrastructure for the special economic zone, TMSA is also responsible for operating it as safely and competitively as possible. It is also the intermediary between all private and public partners, including the Hassan II Fund, Caisse de Depot et de Gestion (DDG), CMKD, the Abu Dhabi Fund, the North Agency, and the Ministry for Construction and Civil Engineering (Port Directorate).
By Morad Aziz
© Morocco Times 2006
