Saudi investment group to build sea resort in Morocco

Morocco's King Mohammed VI chaired Wednesday in Tangiers over the signing of an investment convention whereby the firm Palais des Roses International, an affiliate of Saudi Dahlan Group, will build a sea resort, Taghazout, near the southern city of Agadir.

The convention was initialled by Dahlan Group chief, Sheikh Salah Abdallah Kamel, and on behalf of the Moroccan government by Driss Jettou, interior minister, Fathallah Oualalou, minister of economy, finance, privatization and tourism, Bouamour Taghouane, equipment minister, and Mohamed Mbarki, secretary of state in charge of housing.

The convention is part of a new strategy for the development of tourism by 2010, based on an innovative public-private partnership.

The document sets the modalities and conditions for the materialization of the project, based on a new-generation concept of tourism development, inspired from the Moroccan architectural heritage and in harmony with the principles of sustained development through promoting local riches, namely the Argan tree, the bold ibis as well as the whales that often swim along the region's coast.

The program on the development of the sea resort provides for the construction of 35 high-rank hotel units with a 19,000-bed accommodation capacity, tourism residences with a total accommodation of 5,100 beds and leisure and entertainment equipment, including 3 golf links and two fishing and leisure shelters.

The total investment stands at 1.6 billion dirhams for the development works and the in-site infrastructures will generate an induced investment of 10 billion dirhams for the materialization of the accommodation and leisure equipment. Once materialized, the project will contribute to the generation of 15,000 direct jobs and 75,000 indirect ones.