Tanger — An Angolan parliamentary delegation headed by the Speaker Carolina Cerqueira visited the Tanger-Med industrial port complex in Morocco, where it received detailed information on the project and its importance in the transport sector worldwide.
More than a port, Tanger MED is a logistics platform, a strategic priority for Morocco's economic and social development and part of the export-oriented economic policy.
Its particular position, in the Strait of Gibraltar, at the crossroads of the two main maritime routes and 15 kilometres from the European Union, allows it to supply a market of hundreds of millions of consumers.
Tanger-Med complex has a dual mission: to be a transhipment platform dedicated to international and regional container movements and to be an import and export port aimed at improving the region's competitiveness.
The premises of industrial free zones and logistics complexes give operators exceptional advantages: from customs regulation to simplified customs procedures, unlimited VAT exemption and abundant and cheap workforce.
The complex has the capacity to handle 9 million containers, 7 million passengers, 1 million vehicles and 700,000 heavy goods vehicles.
The port can also receive seven ships at the same time.
With its length, the Moroccan port surpasses the infrastructure of Algeciras (Spain), Valencia (Spain) and Gioia (Italy) and connects Morocco to 77 countries and 186 ports around the world.
In 2018 alone it raised 33.14 billion US dollars in exports and imports.
Thanks to Tanger-Med port many multinationals have established their factories in and around Tanger, with a total of 912 companies - mainly in logistics, automotive, aeronautics, textiles and other sectors - currently operating near the port and using it to transport their products. These companies generated 75,000 jobs.
Today, 40 percent of Tanger-Med cargo traffic goes to West Africa, 20 per cent to Europe and 10 per cent to the Americas.
The transhipment of goods in Morocco saves about 10 days for maritime carriers operating in the sub-region, compared to other Mediterranean ports.
According to data, around 90 percent of container volumes that pass through the port are in transit to other destinations.
The Angolan National Assembly Speaker, Carolina Cerqueira, underscored the fact that it was a public-private project that stemmed from the strategic vision of the King of Morocco Mohammed VI, who planned the creation of a port platform to transport people and goods.
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According to the Angolan parliamentary leader, it is the result of the bet of the Moroccan Government and the private sector, embodied in the construction of social, economic and cultural infrastructures.
In the framework of the visit to Morocco, the Angolan parliamentarian signed Tuesday an agreement with the House of Representatives.
During the two-day visit, the Angolan parliamentary delegation held meetings with the minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Residents Abroad, Nasser Bourita and with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Naam Miyara.
The Angolan parliamentary delegation includes deputies Alcides Sakala, Lourdes Caposso and Narciso Benedito, as well as the secretary general of the National Assembly, Agostinho Nery.
