Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima: significant economic activity
The Regional Council of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima continues the intense promotion of the region thanks to the provision of various economic initiatives aimed at revitalising the area and generating intense economic activity.
The Regional Council has launched several projects that favour this economic dynamism and, at the same time, promote respect for the environment and the reuse of various resources.
All of this is part of the always active policy of the Regional Council of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima to develop the region, including through financing tools and contact with various national and international investors.
The main projects included in this dynamic of the Regional Council of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima concern various activities such as wastewater reuse, landfills and waste recycling and recovery centres, mobile seawater desalination plants, infrastructures, recovery of the Loukkos agricultural centre, etc.
At its last ordinary working session, the Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Council unanimously approved the 52 items on the agenda, including several agreements and structuring projects of an economic, social, cultural and environmental nature.
The working session was attended by the wali of the region, Younes Tazi, and the president of the Regional Council, Omar Moro, and confirmed that the Council has continued to comply with the roadmap for projects scheduled under the Regional Development Plan, following its approval by the Moroccan Ministry of Interior, noting that the pace of implementation of these projects is in line with the established agenda.
Environmental care, infrastructures, culture, sport and territorial governance and international cooperation
In this context, the Regional Council approved an agreement on the reuse of wastewater for the irrigation of green spaces in Al Hoceima, the creation of two waste disposal and recovery centres in Tetouan and Ouezzane, the protection of the municipalities of Amtar (Chefchaouen) and Ain Dorij (Ouezzane) against flooding of the surrounding water basins, a partnership agreement for the construction of mobile seawater desalination plants, the improvement and strengthening of forest protection against fires in Tangier, the financing and construction of several small dams and mountain basins, as well as the purchase of drift nets for pelagic fishing boats on the Mediterranean coast, as reported by La Vie Éco.
The environmental factor plays a major role in all this activity thanks to the framework agreements initialled with the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Mediterranean Climate House Foundation and the Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments in Africa (UCLG Africa), with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions in the industrial areas of the Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region.
The Council also adopted an agreement aimed at strengthening the road infrastructure in the province of Fahs-Anjra, carrying out quality studies and the preliminary draft of the future vision of rail services in Tangier and the region, the development of public spaces and the structuring of poorly equipped districts in several cities and municipalities, in this case in Tetouan, Al Hoceima, Ouezzane, Tangier, M'diq, Chefchaouen, Fnideq, Martil and the province of Fahs-Anjra.
This working session also approved an extension of the partnership agreement for the development of the Loukkos agricultural centre in Larache, agreements on the creation of a zone of economic, industrial and artisanal activities in the province of Fahs-Anjra and the regional observatory for strategic monitoring and territorial and economic intelligence, as well as the approval of the modification of a tax decision setting the price of royalties for the exploitation of mines.
In the area of sport, support for football clubs and teams in the region was also approved, as well as the promotion of handball, basketball, volleyball, cycling and sport for the disabled.
On the cultural side, the Council approved the partnership agreement for the creation and management of the municipal theatre of Chefchaouen, the support and organisation of an event on the occasion of International Jazz Day, in partnership with UNESCO; while on the social side, the members of the Council adopted a framework agreement on support for youth services, the project to complete the development of the forensic centre in Tangier, support for scientific research in the field of epidemiology, by contributing to the creation and equipping of an epidemiology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Tangier, as well as the creation and management of a vocational training centre in the municipality of Bab Berred (province of Chefchaouen).
With regard to territorial governance, the members of the Council approved draft agreements concerning the organisation and supervision of training sessions for the benefit of members of the communal councils of the prefectures and provinces of the region, the creation of the grouping of local authorities for the cooperation and development of Tamuda Bay (M'diq-Fnideq) and the grouping of local authorities of Taazor (Fahs-Anjra).
In the field of international cooperation, this working session was marked by the adoption of the second action plan of the Regional Council's Open Government Partnership 2024-2026, and support for the project to make the city of Tetouan an open municipality for its approval, in addition to a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Cooperation Foundation, as well as two memoranda of understanding with the United Nations Habitat Programme (UN-Habitat), for the establishment of a technical and strategic cooperation and support programme, and with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) programme to reduce energy consumption and introduce energy efficiency in public lighting in the region's cities, all according to information from La Vie Éco.
