Morocco and China Advance ’Belt and Road’ with Tanger Tech City Project

"Tanger Tech is a flagship project led by the Chinese and Moroccan heads of state, it will play an exemplary role in the production capacity cooperation between the two countries," said Li Changlin, China’s ambassador to Morocco, in an article published by Maroc Diplomatique, who participated in the signing of the agreement at the invitation of Ryad Mezzour, Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade. The project will be built on a total area of 2,167 hectares. "The Tanger Tech project will be carried out in several stages. It includes industrial parks, logistics service parks and residential areas. The industrial sectors concerned are automotive, aeronautics, electronics and household appliances," details the Chinese diplomat.

He also notes that the joint construction of the China-Morocco "Belt and Road" has generated great enthusiasm in Morocco. "All circles agree that Morocco’s accession to the ’Belt and Road’ initiative will facilitate trade and investment between China and Morocco, particularly in the construction of airport infrastructure, high-speed trains, and industrial parks in Morocco." To support his words, he reports the remarks of the head of Moroccan diplomacy and those of a former Moroccan Finance Minister. "The ’Belt and Road’ responds to Morocco’s priority development objectives, and that it is an important contribution to accelerating the connectivity of African countries and establishing economic bridges between Africa and Asia, Africa and Europe".

"The ’Belt and Road’ demonstrates the concept based on the pursuit of the country’s openness and mutually beneficial cooperation, which will allow China to expand its cooperation space with African and Arab countries, Morocco must take advantage of it to become a gateway for economic and trade cooperation between North Africa and China," said Fatallah Oualalou, former Moroccan Minister of Finance. Nasser Bouchiba, a Moroccan sinologist, adds: "the ’Belt and Road’ highlights the principles of broad consultation, joint contribution and mutual benefit, and it is a new approach to economic globalization and a new mode of global governance".