The first edition of the International Ports and Ecosystem Exhibition was inaugurated Wednesday in El Jadida, in the presence of several decision-makers, experts, and national and international operators from the maritime and port sectors.
The event provides a strategic platform for exchange, experience-sharing, and the development of partnerships in response to the major changes sweeping the port sector on a global scale.
According to organizers, SIPORTS 2026 offers a rich scientific program, including thematic conferences and B2B meetings, as well as an exhibition space structured around several hubs dedicated to port industries, port operations, training, and scientific research.
The trade show also features an immersive museum space retracing the evolution of ports in Morocco and internationally, as well as a high-level meeting of port authorities from the member countries of the African Atlantic States Process (AASP), dedicated to the challenges of maritime connectivity, security, and the blue economy.
Through this event, Morocco confirms its ambition to consolidate its position as a strategic port hub and a major player in regional and international cooperation, promoting sustainable, innovative, and competitive port development.
In an address during the opening ceremony, Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, underlined that hosting this event illustrates “the Kingdom’s continued commitment to developing its coastline,” and highlighted the port sector’s key role in developing Moroccan economy. He recalled that more than 96% of Morocco’s foreign trade transits by sea, which makes ports “a fundamental pillar of the country’s logistical sovereignty.”
The minister also underlined Morocco’s geostrategic assets, situated at the crossroads of the largest international maritime routes, on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean seaboards, with the Strait of Gibraltar serving as a major convergence point for international trade. This position grants the Kingdom a natural role as a logistics hub linking Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.
In an international context marked by deep geopolitical and economic shifts, Baraka stressed the need to rethink logistical models on a regional and continental scale in order to build more resilient, diversified, and secure value chains.
He identified five structuring priorities to develop the national port sector: energy and ecological transition, adaptation to climate change, strengthening port security, digitization and integration of artificial intelligence, as well as excellence in infrastructure design.
He also recalled that ongoing major port projects, such as Nador West Med, Dakhla Atlantic, and the expansions of Tanger Med and the Casablanca Port, are part of the 2030 National Port Strategy, which aims to elevate Morocco into an integrated, sustainable, and competitive port platform at the international level.
This dynamic is also part of the Royal Vision to boost African integration, mainly through the Atlantic Initiative, which seeks to turn the continent’s Atlantic seaboard into a strategic area of cooperation and development and to facilitate the access of Sahel countries to the Atlantic Ocean.
