إدريس التمسماني

OBG London, Feb. 3, 2009 (MAP) - Mega-projects, carried out across Morocco are on schedule, despite the global economic uncertainty, says the London-based think-tank, Oxford Business Group (OBG).

Morocco's large construction initiatives are continuing as planned, with both public and private projects breaking new ground, says the Group in a report, noting that 2009 will see a number of improvements to major metropolitan areas and infrastructure throughout the kingdom, with a particular focus on new strategies of urbanisation.

The Group, which publishes regular reports on emerging countries, cited Saïdia (northeast) -the largest project of Plan Azur, and the government's investment to construct six new tourist cities along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, to be inaugurated this summer, featuring 29 hotels and 30,000 beds.

Similarly, the $250m Morocco Mall - to figure as the largest mall in North Africa - is on track for opening in 2010, while Saudi-based firm SIAMA will begin construction this year on an $85m polo resort and hotel in Marrakech, adds the group. "This is the perfect time for developers to be working on projects because the cost of building materials has dropped dramatically because of the economic slowdown," says the OBG, quoting Ammar Abdelhadi, general manager of SIAMA.

The public sector has been equally aggressive, with plans for several significant construction projects over the coming 11 months, says the think-tank. Similarly, Al Omrane, the state-run construction firm, recently broke ground on the new city of "Ch'Rafate" near Tangiers (north), which will eventually feature mixed-income housing, an industrial zone and green space as well as schools and hospitals, adds the Group, pointing out that that the construction of Ch'rafate is part of the kingdom's New Cities (Villes Nouvelles) programme, which envisages building up to 15 new cities in an effort to decongest Morocco's main urban centres, particularly those along the coast.

In a sign of continuing progress, the government recently completed a rehabilitation of 30 towns under its new "Cities Without Slums" (Villes Sans Bidonvilles - VSB) programme, which aims to relocate some 280,000 households living in the country's more than 70 shantytowns into low cost public housing, it adds, stressing that infrastructure is also a priority.

Morocco's highway system continues to develop rapidly, with the national network now measuring over 900km, says the Group, adding that following the inauguration of the new Marrakech-Chichaoua highway on January 5, construction began on the $120m expansion of the Rabat-Casablanca route on January 6. The expansion aims at adding six lanes along 57.3km of existing highway, says the OBG, which notes that more than $5bn has been budgeted in 2008-2015 to develop the kingdom's road network.