Nov 2008 - Morocco and France signed a $792m protocol to finance the rolling stock and railway equipments of Casablanca-Tangier high-speed train (TGV).

The agreement was signed by Moroccan minister of Economy and Finance, Salaheddine Mezouar and French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Anne-Marie Idrac.

The original Protocol of Understanding on the TGV between Casablanca and Tangier was signed in Marrakech in October 2007, under the chairmanship of King Mohammed VI and French President Nicolas Sarkozy and is part of a country wide plan to link all the major cities with high speed links.

The TGV project, which provides for the construction of a high-speed line (from 200 to 320 km/hour), will reduce travel time between Tangier and Casablanca to 2 hours and 10 minutes instead of current 5 hours and 45 minutes.

This is great news for Tangiers property investors as a high speed link between the country’s two major business hubs will undoubtly have an upward effect on prices in the northern city of Tangier.

In an article by Heba Saleh in The Financial Times of London recognised that Morocco and its economy are remarkably immune from the troubles caused by the banking system and credit crunch in countries around the world. Despite being the only nation in the Magreb without its own oil or gas Morocco nonetheless appears to have managed to maintain economic stability in the face of global inflation.

“The numbers this year are certainly showing the very great resilience of the Moroccan economy in the context of international turmoil.” said Frances Clottes head of the World Bank in Morocco.

Despite the continuing reliance on agriculture for employment, increased revenue has come from tourism and corporate tax receipts – which rose 70% due to the higher level of investment in the country.

“From 1996 to 2004 nothing was happening in the economy,” said a Moroccan investment banker. “But starting from 2005 things started to improve thanks to all the public investment in infrastructure and the private investment in real estate and tourism.”

The most notable overseas investment has come from Renault which is putting $1 billion into a new manufacturing plant just outside Tangiers adjacent to the Tangier Med Port and inside the Free Trade Zone. When complete the Port alone will generate around 100,000 new jobs and will be the largest such facility in the Mediterranean.

The deal on its own is significant but ambitious locals are seeking to use this recognition by an internationally respected corporation to attract many other companies to the area, especially those in the aeronautical and automotive industries.

This all great news for people who have already invested in property in Tangier as the unique combination of Morocco’s economic stability and the attraction of the Free Trade Zone in Tangier look likely to attract significant levels of further investment. All analysts foresee a continuation of property price growth as the wealth created spreads through the Moroccan professional classes and expat managers look for “western standard” accommodation in Tangier.

Source: The Financial Times : Oct 2^nd 2008

The new Moroccan container terminal, 30km outside Tangier, Eurogate Tanger on Wednesday handled its first containership ahead of the start of regular liner services next month.

The first ship at the facility was the massive 8,488-TEU CMA CGM Otello, which discharged five disassembled Kalmar rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs).

The first regular service to call at Eurogate Tanger will be kicking off on Oct. 8 2008 with CMA CGM La Traviata, another 8,488-TEU ship. The terminal has 450 meters of quayside and five container gantry cranes. By the end of the year, the quay length will be extended to 810 meters and three more container gantry cranes will arrive in January 2009.

“Although the official opening ceremony of Eurogate Tanger will not be until spring next year, we will be fully operational by the end of this year. We are now starting to handle ocean carriers and will soon increase the number of services,” said Domenico Bagalà, president of the management board of Eurogate Tanger.

Eurogate Tanger is a joint development between German container terminal operator Eurogate and major European shipping lines Mediterranean Shipping Co., Zim and CMA CGM, together with its Moroccan subsidiary Comanav. It will be the major engine for economic growth in the Tangier region and is estimated to create over 100,000 new jobs directly and many more indirectly. Several new large scale manufacturing concerns have already moved to the area to take advantage of the port facilities and the adjacent Free Trade Zone (which allows import and export without tarriffs) including Nissan Renault and Airbus Industries.

Michael Kent of Moroccan Sands added ” The new port will revolutionise Tangier and inject much needed wealth into the local economy. This will undoubtedly have an upward impact on Tangier property prices as expats and middle class Moroccans enter the market. Indeed, in our opinion, this is what makes Tangier such a geat investment - not only are you investing in a city with caché but the growth is based on real economic factors and not reliant on the holiday rental market.”