Morocco falls on EU for transport deal

  1. Posted on Wednesday 11 November 2009 - 17:44
    Addou
    Image of Addou
    Merieme Addou, AfricaNews reporter in Rabat, Morocco
    The Moroccan Transport and Equipment Ministry has called on the European Union to increase its backing to transport infrastructure projects in Mediterranean countries. The call was made at the international meeting on trans-European transport (RTE-T 2009).
    European Union
    The ministry pointed out the considerable funds needed to carry out Mediterranean road projects and warned against the infrastructure gap in the Mediterranean region if more financial resources and innovative solutions are not put in place. Officials said this is crucial since the funds allocated by the union for the Mediterranean remain limited compared to those granted to other regions.

    The transport flows between the two shores of the Mediterranean are very dense, and the EU is the main maritime and air partner for a large numbers of Mediterranean partners, in particular the Maghreb countries.

    The European Union aims to promote cooperation with the countries of the southern Mediterranean in order to improve transport infrastructure and to make the public and private players concerned aware of EU initiatives.

    For the 2002-2015 period, Morocco plans to invest more than $15 billion for the expansion and renovation of its transport infrastructure. And also to upgrade its basic infrastructure, including roads, ports, airports in order to bolster its economic competitiveness amid efforts to turn the country into a platform of investment.

    However, the EU contributes to the development of road transport in Morocco through several road construction projects including inter-city highways. Meanwhile the EU encourages the Moroccan government to adopt new traffic regulations to make roads safer. It also supports the reform of port systems and is involved in air transport, with Morocco the first non-European country to sign a Euro-Mediterranean treaty on air services in December 2006, with the reciprocal opening of markets (Open Sky) as an immediate result.

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