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Why Tangier?
First asset: A privileged geostrategic location
- Located to the very northern end of Africa and only 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) from the Old Continent, the Straits open up towards one of the busiest sea routes in the world, at the gates of the Mediterranean.
- A must-go-though crossing point between Europe and Africa, strengthened through:
- The numerous ferry connections to the right bank of the Straits;
- The electrical wire link between Morocco and Spain;
- The gas pipeline between Maghreb and Europe;
- Underwater communication cables;
- The project of a fixed connection through the Straits of Gibraltar;
- Two seafronts for a total length of 375 kilometres (233 miles);
- A territory stretching over 11,570 square kilometres (4,467 square miles).
Second asset: Steadily improving communication networks
Maritime network
The world-scale Tangier-Med port has been in operation since 2007. Tangier-Med is an integrated infrastructure project, strategically located on the Straits of Gibraltar, at the crossroads of the leading sea routes, and at the gates of Europe. The project centres on three main components, namely the port, free zones and connection infrastructures, thus providing investors with the following indisputable assets:
- An efficient hub concept, with the port being connected to regional and world logistics flows
- Potential qualified workforce at a competitive cost
- Free-trade agreements
- Free zone status
The Tangier-Tetouan region represents the main concentration of ports within the Kingdom, with several ones on each side of Morocco: a commercial port in Tangier, fishing and pleasure ports at Asilah, Larache, Jebha, M’diq, Restinga Smir and Kabila, as well as the Ksar Sghir port;
Roads and highways network
Roads add up to a total of 2,027 kilometres (1,260 miles) and offer an indisputable asset, as far as interregional connections are concerned:
- The Tangier-Casablanca highway;
- The Mediterranean bypass connecting Tangier to Saïdia;
- The expressway connecting Tangier to Tetouan;
- The expressway between Tangier-Med port and Fnideq;
- The Gezanaya–Oued R’mel highway (main service road to Tangier-Med).
Airway network
- The infrastructure is mainly composed of 2 airports:
- Ibn Battouta in Tangier
Designed to accommodate 850,000 passengers a year, Tangier's Ibn Battouta airport operates 7,422 flights a year, for a total of 222,136 passengers and 496 tons of cargo (2003);
- Sania R’mel in Tetouan
Tetouan's Sania R’mel airports operates 110 flights a year (2003).
Railway network
- Passenger transport remains the main activity of Tangier's railway station, with 742,150 passengers;
- There will be a railway between Tangier and the future Tangier-Med port;
- The railway between Tangier and Casablanca will be modified to qualify for TGV operation, which should dramatically reduce the distance between these two economical centres, thus saving users a substantial amount of time.
Third asset: A preferential tax regime
Besides the incentives provided for in the Investment Charter which is valid throughout the Moroccan territory, the Tangier-Tetouan region enjoys a privileged tax regime.
Indeed, businesses based within the Tangier-Tetouan region are granted specific tax incentives during their first five fiscal years:
- Corporate and income taxes reduced by 50%
On top of that, businesses with their head offices and main activities in Tangier are granted a 50% tax reduction on corporate tax, income tax, trading licence and city tax.
Fourth asset: An attractive environment
Welcome to a breath-taking and extraordinary patchwork of landscapes and natural sites, rich in both culture and history.
Around Tangier, there are several sites to be seen, including the Caves of Hercules, the Ancient City of Cotta, the Roman Tombs, the Phoenician and Portuguese Relics from Asilah to Ksar Sghir, as well as natural spaces made of forests on both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean coasts.
Around Tetouan, there are several sites to be seen, too, including the historic monument in Tamouda, Tetouan's picturesque Medina and the numerous seaside resorts along the coast between Fnideq and Oued laou.
Around Chefchaouen, there are several sites to be seen, too, including the caves and natural parks in Talasemtane and Bouhachem, the Chrafate Waterfalls, the Kasbah of Chefchaouen and its blue and white-tinted Medina.
Around Larache, there are some main historic sites to be seen, including the Lixus Ruins, the Fkhitate Fortress, Dar el Makhzan, the Archaeological Museum and the Al Adam Mosque.
Many entertainment amenities
• A very nice stadium is being built in Tangier according to FIFA standards. With 69,000 seats incl. 7,150 media seats, it will enable the Tangier-Tetouan region to accommodate international events;
• Golf courses;
• Shooting club;
• Aqua Park;
• Cricket stadium;
• Horse-riding club;
• Pleasure ports;
• Hiking centres;
• In the last few years, tourist facilities have diversified to now offer a full range of services.
Fifth asset: HUMAN RESOURCES, A CRUCIAL TURNING POINT FOR THE REGION
TRAINING
The Tangier-Tetouan region can provide companies with all kinds of general or technological training they need.
The Office de la formation professionnelle (or Office for Vocational Training) is established in all the region's provinces, providing businesses with many in-house training schemes, vocational training & qualification schemes programmes through vocational qualification centres, Institutes of Applied Technology and Higher Institutes of Applied Technology.
‘À la carte’ training schemes are also offered to address companies' specific needs.
GENERAL EDUCATION
The Tangier-Tetouan region is provided with various higher education structures, namely:
Faculties
The Abdelamlek Essaâdi University, with its following Faculties:
• Faculty of Sciences
• Tangier's Faculty of Sciences and Technology
• Multidisciplinary Faculty
• Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
• Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences
As the first Spanish public University abroad, the future ‘Université des deux Rois’ (or University of the two Kings) will start business in Tetouan in 2008 and add to the regional offer in terms of higher education.
Higher Institutes
- International Higher Institute of Tourism
- Higher Institute of Management Technique Training
- National Institute of Fine Arts
- National Institute of Social Action
Colleges
- National College of Applied Sciences
- Tangier's National College of Business & Management
- École Supérieure Roi Fahd de Traduction (or King Fahd's Translating College)
MULTILIGUISME
The region's inhabitants are very keen to learn foreign languages.
Besides Arabic, in most schools students are also taught French; Spanish and English are being taught as their third and fourth languages.
There are also several foreign schools, namely:
- The Lycée Regnault,
- The Instituto Severo Ochoa,
- The American School of Tangier (the first American school in Morocco)
Along with the above educational organisations, the region also depends on such cultural institutes as the Institut Français de Tanger-Tetouan (or Tangier-Tetouan's French Institute) and Tangier's Instituto Cervantes.
The École Supérieure Roi Fahd de Traduction, which is unique in Morocco, provides translating and interpreting training schemes.
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