STATEMENT BY THE ROYAL OFFICE

Thursday, 29 January 2026

The Royal Office has released the following statement regarding a working meeting chaired by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, devoted to the new port and industrial complex of Nador West Med.

On Wednesday, 28 January 2026, at the Royal Palace in Casablanca, His Majesty the King chaired a working meeting focused on the Nador West Med port and industrial complex. This meeting comes ahead of the port’s operational launch scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year and forms part of the Royal Vision aimed at sustainably anchoring the Kingdom’s economy within global value chains through the development of world-class port infrastructure.

During the meeting, His Majesty was presented with a comprehensive briefing by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nador West Med, Mr. Fouad Brini, outlining the progress of the project and the achievements accomplished to date.

Building on the international success of Tanger Med—now established as the leading port hub in Africa and the Mediterranean—the Nador West Med project extends this Royal Ambition by consolidating an efficient and complementary national port system. This system is designed to strengthen the competitiveness of the national economy, generate employment opportunities, and promote balanced territorial development.

Conceived as an integrated project, Nador West Med is structured around a next-generation port complex supported by a vast industrial, logistics, and energy platform. To date, the project has attracted public and private investments totaling MAD 51 billion.

On the port infrastructure side, all basic works have been completed, including 5.4 kilometers of breakwaters, 4 kilometers of quays, and four power stations. Concession contracts for the two container terminals have been signed and will gradually come into force starting this year.

In parallel, Nador West Med is deploying a new strategic energy hub, which will include the Kingdom’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal with an annual capacity of 5 billion cubic meters, as well as a hydrocarbon terminal. This component responds directly to Morocco’s energy sovereignty requirements.

At launch, the port is expected to handle an annual capacity of 5 million containers and 35 million tonnes of liquid and solid bulk cargo. In the longer term, additional development potential stands at 12 million containers and 15 million tonnes of liquid bulk cargo annually.

Complementing the port complex, the project also provides for the development of new activity zones covering 700 hectares in a first phase. These zones have already welcomed the initial installations of international operators. Private investments in the port and industrial complex, which currently total MAD 20 billion, reflect the confidence placed in Morocco by leading global maritime and industrial actors.

At the conclusion of the meeting, His Majesty the King, may God assist Him, issued His High Instructions to all stakeholders to take the necessary measures to ensure the project’s launch under optimal conditions. The Sovereign also called for the rapid implementation of targeted training programs to support investors, facilitate the integration of young people, and enhance their employability.

Furthermore, His Majesty instructed that the benefits of these investments extend to all provinces within the port’s zone of influence. He emphasized the need to accompany the project with territorial upgrading programs aimed at improving the population’s quality of life, as well as the implementation of a multidimensional action plan to safeguard the project’s future development.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Abdelouafi Laftit; the Minister of Economy and Finance, Ms. Nadia Fettah; the Minister of Equipment and Water, Mr. Nizar Baraka; the Minister of Industry and Trade, Mr. Ryad Mezzour; the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Ms. Leila Benali; and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nador West Med, Mr. Fouad Brini.