Sanae El Amrani: ‘Cooperation between Morocco and Spain is simply excellent’

The Barceló Hotel in Tangier hosted the 10th Hispano-Moroccan Maritime, Transport and Logistics Meeting organised by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Tangier city.    

On the occasion of this event, Atalayar spoke with Sanae El Amrani, Director of Ports and Maritime Public Domain of the Ministry of Equipment of Morocco, who spoke about the objectives of the maritime-logistic meeting in Tangier, highlighting the close cooperation between two allied countries such as Spain and Morocco, which will work together in the organization of the next football World Cup in 2030, an event that will have great relevance for the logistics and transport sector. 

What was the objective of this conference on the Spanish-Moroccan meeting regarding transport, logistics...? 

This has been a great meeting between Spanish and Moroccan entities on transport and logistics. Our Ministry has been present to give another point of view on our policy, especially in terms of ports and transport.  

We discussed with the participants the new objectives of our port policy and also our new green transition plan for Moroccan ports. That was the first objective, the second point was, of course, to have new contacts with the Spanish and Moroccan entities involved in this field of transport and maritime affairs. 

How is the collaboration between Spain and Morocco on these issues? 

As Morocco and Spain are the closest countries between Africa and Europe, the cooperation is simply excellent and we have a lot of exchanges; of course, on cargo, but also for passengers and other types of cooperation in transport and logistics.  

So the relationship is excellent and we have a lot of opportunities to take advantage of, especially with the organisation of the World Cup between Morocco, Spain and Portugal. I think maritime transport and logistics are at the heart of the preparation and we have a lot of opportunities. 

In your planning, the most important thing is the World Cup, and what else? Another port? Because the cooperation between a very good port like Tangier Med with Spanish ports, like Algeciras or Malaga, is contributing to the increasing growth of the Mediterranean influence. 

We expect this partnership to evolve, especially with the new ports that are being built in Morocco, and I am referring to the new port of Nador, which will be the second largest port in the Mediterranean, as well as the new port Dakhla Atlantique, which will be the largest port in the southern regions of the Kingdom of Morocco.  

We have many opportunities in terms of maritime transport and logistics because these two ports will have a large industrial and logistics area. And investors from Spain and Morocco are, of course, invited to take advantage of this opportunity and to invest in this area. 

Yes, because ports mean economic growth, employment and well-being for the population.

Yes, of course. We have another very important issue that will be discussed at this meeting, which is the decarbonisation of maritime transport.  

And Morocco has a big role to play in this issue of decarbonisation and I think we have to cooperate with Spain and other countries to build these green corridors for maritime transport. 

And very importantly, the Atlantic world, because the Sahel region is a very sensitive region. And if that country can grow economically, agriculture or industry will be stronger, something that can help to prevent the proliferation of terrorist groups. This is a very good initiative for King Mohammed VI. 

Yes, of course, this initiative is very important to improve economic and social development in general in all the countries of the Atlantic passage of Africa and Morocco is ready to give all the facilities and to be an important part of this initiative.