Mr. Mohammed BOUSSAID chaired Monday, November 30th, 2015 in Rabat, the signing ceremony between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) of loan and guarantee agreements regarding the fund participation in financing “the Nador West Med” project for an amount of approximately 2 billion dirhams.
The signing ceremony was attended, on the Moroccan side, by Mr. Aziz Rabah, Minister of Equipment, Transport and Logistics as well as the Director General of Nador West Med, Mr. Jamal Mohamed Benjelloun and on the AFESD side, by his Excellency Mr. Abdellatif Youssef Al Hamad, Director General and Chairman of the AFESD Board of Directors.
In his speech at this event, Mr. Mohamed BOUSSAID thanked the Director General of AFESD for the interest of the Fund in supporting the economic and social development of our country through financing several developmental projects initiated by the Kingdom, such as the "Nador West Med project”.
"This project, of great importance, will strengthen the port infrastructure at the national level and enhance the Kingdom’s positioning as a leading logistics platform in the Mediterranean,” noted the Minister.
Mr. Yousef Al Hamad, on the one hand, stressed that this project, which will generate a great economic and social momentum at the regional level, "will be able to reinforce Morocco's role in maritime transport and global trade ". He, at the same time, welcomed the good economic governance of Morocco under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI.
On the other hand, Mr. Benjelloun noted that this port, consisting of new port infrastructure and connected with free and industrial zones, will help improve the investment attractiveness and enhance national economic competitiveness. He added that this project is part of "thoughtful allocation policy of public investment on the various regions of the Kingdom to ensure a balanced development”.
He also stated that the "Nador West Med" program, which aims to be a major project generator of employment and added value, is part of the port strategy set up by Morocco for 2030 to improve and develop the national ports infrastructures.
It should be recalled that the AFESD is an Arab funding institution, created in 1971 to support the Arab countries in their economic and social development through loans, technical assistance and grants.
During the period 2010/2014, the total volume of AFESD commitments in our country reached 9.5 billion dirhams. This concerned various sectors including roads and highways, dams and drinking water, ports, education and development.