Madrid Chamber of Commerce holds business forum on investment opportunities in Dakhla, unsettles the Polisario

The Madrid Chamber of Commerce is organizing in Madrid on Tuesday, April 16, a Spain-Morocco business forum focused on investment opportunities in the Dakhla region, particularly in sectors such as port industry, tourism, and aquaculture.

The Madrid Chamber of Commerce aims to boost Spanish companies’ investments in the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region. The Spain-Morocco Business Forum, focused on investment opportunities in this southern province of the Kingdom, is organized in collaboration with the Moroccan Embassy in Spain.

The economic forum announcement angered the Polisario separatist front, whose representative in Madrid went as far as demanding the cancellation of this forum.

The separatist official told “El Independiente” newspaper that “organizing this forum serves Moroccan goals in the Sahara,” and that “economic interests cannot in any way justify a violation of international law,” threatening to take countermeasures. Meanwhile, sources from the Madrid Chamber of Commerce confirmed to the same newspaper their intention to organize this forum on the scheduled date.

In this connection, political analysts told Hespress news outlet that organizing this Moroccan-Spanish economic forum does not deviate from the general context that now frames Madrid’s position on the Sahara issue and the Spanish government’s explicit and clear support for the Morocco-proposed Autonomy Plan. Therefore, this event is a continuation of Spain’s desire to upgrade its relations with Morocco to more advanced levels, and to benefit from the investment opportunities and potentials in the Sahara, considering that the region has become an international commercial and economic hub, especially following the recent royal initiative to open the Atlantic space to the world.

The analysts pointed out that the separatists are always gripped with fear every time influential countries make initiatives concerning the Sahara, especially that their standing continues to erode and that they are unable to forge new alliances at the international level. Rather, the Polisario has become increasingly isolated internationally due to its extremism and obstruction of all realistic and serious initiatives to resolve the Sahara conflict.

The business forum agenda includes panel discussions on business climate and investment opportunities between the Dakhla region and Spain, and the strategic sectors thriving in the Dakhla Region, as well as presentations of the new Dakhla Atlantic port and sectors such as commerce, tourism, industry, and aquaculture in the region.

A strategic destination for investments

“The Dakhla region stands out for its potential in fishing, tourism, agriculture, and renewable energies, making it a strategic destination for investments, particularly for Spanish companies,” reads the presentation note of the forum published on the portal of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce portal.

“Significant investments are underway, such as the Dakhla Atlantic port, which will boost various productive sectors, strengthen logistics infrastructure, and create opportunities in international maritime transport,” adds the note. The Chamber also mentions the major $2 billion project for the establishment of a green hydrogen plant “which positions this region as a key center for innovation and investment.”

The enthusiasm of Spanish investors for the Dakhla region is not new. Over 200 Iberian companies participated in the first Morocco-Spain Investment Forum held on June 21 and 22, 2022, in Dakhla, with focus on the potential and investment opportunities in the region.

Three months later, in September 2022, a delegation composed of businessmen representing more than 30 Spanish companies visited Dakhla to explore investment opportunities in the agri-food, industry, logistics, fishing, and renewable energy sectors.

The event will feature the participation of the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, the Vice President of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, Augusto de Castañeda, the President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region, Yanja El Khattat, as well as officials from the Regional Investment Center (CRI) of the region.

Bottom line, despite the Polisario’s opposition, the organization of this forum carries a clear message, which is that Madrid recognizes Morocco’s full sovereignty over its territories and translates Spanish support for the Autonomy Initiative as the sole political solution to the artificial dispute over the Sahara.