ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – King Mohammed VI of Morocco chaired a working meeting yesterday evening at the Royal Palace in Rabat to review progress on the Nador West Med port and industrial complex, whose first terminal is set to become operational in the coming days, as well as plans to expand Tanger Med with the launch of construction of the new Tanger Med 3 port. The news was reported by the Moroccan news agency MAP.
The meeting follows a series of working sessions held under the King’s leadership on the development of major national port projects, the previous one having taken place on 28 January. Fouad Brini, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TMSA and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nador West Med, presented an update on the progress of both projects and outlined the next steps.
Both initiatives form part of the King’s vision to equip Morocco with a high-performance port system capable of strengthening the country’s competitiveness amid the restructuring of global value chains. The objective is to combine national economic growth with regional development through a better distribution of public investment, the mobilisation of private capital and the creation of employment opportunities, delivering tangible benefits to communities in the surrounding areas.
Nador West Med will complement Tanger Med’s existing facilities and strengthen Morocco’s position as a logistics, industrial and energy hub. The project has already mobilised 54 billion dirhams in public and private investment. The first container terminal, whose initial phase is due to become operational shortly, will have a full capacity of 3.5 million containers. A second terminal, with a capacity of 1.8 million containers, is scheduled to enter service in April 2027. The two terminals will attract 8 billion dirhams in private investment.
The energy component includes the commissioning of a hydrocarbon terminal connected to a storage area with a potential capacity of 4 million cubic metres, as well as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal capable of handling up to 5 billion cubic metres per year. The complex will also feature a dry bulk terminal and a general cargo terminal.
The industrial zone is already operational and currently hosts one active facility, with three more under construction. In the short term, the Nador West Med complex is expected to create 14,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs. This development is supported by transport infrastructure, including the Selouane–NWM railway line, the Guercif–NWM motorway and the upgrading of the road network.
At the same time, the expansion of Tanger Med will increase the complex’s capacity, with construction work on Tanger Med 3 set to begin shortly. Located west of Tanger Med 2, the new port will feature 1,200 metres of quays, providing additional capacity of 4.5 million containers per year, with an investment of 8 billion dirhams.
A concession agreement has been signed with Maersk-APM for the development of the new container terminal. The project is accompanied by the ongoing expansion of the passenger and roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) port, as well as the eastern expansion of Tanger Med 2. With these developments, the Tanger Med complex will be able to reach a total capacity of 20 million containers, placing it among the world’s top ten ports.
At the end of the meeting, the King stressed the need to ensure that the economic and social benefits of these projects extend to all the provinces concerned and translate into tangible improvements in the lives of local communities. In this regard, the Sovereign called for the accelerated implementation of training programmes tailored to the needs of emerging industries, in order to improve young people’s access to employment.
The meeting was attended by the King’s Adviser Fouad Ali El Himma; Minister of the Interior Abdelouafi Laftit; Minister of Economy, Finance and Public Performance Fouzi Lekjaa; Minister of Equipment, Water and Forests Nizar Baraka; Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and Economic Inclusion Ryad Mezzour; and Fouad Brini, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TMSA and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nador West Med.
– Photo: IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS)
