Spain interested in Morocco’s rail projects offering huge opportunities to investors

Spain, which is one of Morocco’s key economic & political strategic partners, looks forward to the railway projects launched by the North African Kingdom to meet growing demand.

“Morocco has just launched projects to develop its rail network and Spain is ready to contribute to these projects”, said Spanish Transport minister Oscar Puente Santiago following a meeting held Monday in Rabat with his Moroccan peer Mohamed Abdeljalil.

Spain, which has a solid experience in rail industry, is ready to contribute to the expansion of the Moroccan rail network and share its experience, underlined Mr. Puente Santiago, who is paying his first official visit to Morocco since assuming office within the Pedro Sanchez government.

He also said he was impressed by Morocco’s modernization and development, describing Madrid’s relationship with Rabat as a “priority and very important.”

Other topics covered Operation Marhaba during which Moroccan expatriates cross Spain to go home for holidaying, road transport, and the establishment of an ecological corridor across the Strait of Gibraltar.

For his part, Abdeljalil said his talks with his Spanish peer provided an opportunity to discuss ways of boosting cooperation ties in rail sector. “The two parties will work together to develop Morocco’s high-speed trains network,” he added, noting that Spain is Morocco’s leading trading partner, in terms of exports and imports.

This Tuesday, the Spanish official discussed with Equipment and Water Minister, Nizar Baraka, means to promote cooperation and develop a road map for the implementation of large-scale projects relating to infrastructure and the World Cup 2023, to be co-organized by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

The two sides also discussed the continental project linking Morocco and Spain, which will contribute to strengthening distinguished bilateral ties, as put by Baraka.

The Spanish-Moroccan Joint Committee to be held next May will draft a road map to assess the studies carried out in this context and finalize the concept of this strategic project for both countries, as well as for the African and European continents.

Puente Santiago described the meeting as “fruitful” and said the talks had provided an opportunity to examine various infrastructure projects, including rail and road networks, the shared challenges of hosting the Football World Cup 2030, and port cooperation.

He also praised the good relations between Morocco and Spain, calling for taking advantage of this dynamic to achieve further progress in the two countries.

Oscar Puente Santiago is expected to visit in Casablanca the headquarters of the Spanish road transport company, Alsa, which operates bus networks in several cities in Morocco. The objective of this visit is to explore the company’s activities in the region.

Puente Santiago’s visit comes just few days after that of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares. During this visit, Pedro Sanchez was received by King Mohammed VI and reiterated on the occasion his country’s position supporting the autonomy plan presented by Morocco in 2007 for a lasting and peaceful resolution of the Sahara issue.

In January, a Moroccan delegation from the Ministry of Transport and Logistics visited Spain to assess the progress made in the project to reopen the maritime connection between the ports of Tarfaya and Fuerventura in the Canary Islands.