Morocco and Spain might partner to expand the high-speed railway network before WC 2030

Morocco and Spain plan to partner with the aim of developing a high-speed railway network expansion project (LGV), as part of the World Cup 2030 preparations, reports El Economista.

Houda Benghazi, the Director General of the Moroccan Family Business Institute, revealed that Morocco “is going to do it with the Spanish and not the Japanese”, during the National Congress of Family Business, held in Bilbao, Spain.

El Economista reported that Morocco relies on Spain to provide high-speed trains for use during the World Cup 2030 jointly organized between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.

To learn more about the possibility of what the Director General of the Morocco Family Business Institute said as the expansion of the railway network would be done by the Spanish, Hespress Ar contacted experts in the field of Economy.

Abdelkhalek Touhami, an Economic Analyst and Researcher told Hespress Ar that “What the Moroccan official said cannot be true until the specialized Spanish companies in the high-speed train industry provide all the technical data (train speed, energy consumption ratio, etc.).”

Touhami stressed that other countries such as China and France would also have to provide important technical data, and based on that engineers would assess which offer would be the strongest.

The Economic Analyst told Hespress Ar that only “After submitting the technical paper comes the stage of determining the financial envelopes,” then “The final decision is made about who will undertake the issue of manufacturing high-speech train.”

Touhami considered that the statement made by the director of the Moroccan-Spanish Economic Council was just a trick, highlighting that “It cannot be believed that Spain will be the one manufacturing the high-speed trains.”

He argued that “it is possible for their counterpart in France to come forward in a few days and declare that Paris will be the one manufacturing these trains.”

The Economic Analyst and Researcher highlighted that it might be possible for Spain to win this project given that Morocco and the Iberian country will jointly host the World Cup 2030, however, “the technical aspect is always decisive, and not just political interpretations,” concluded Touhami his interview with Hespress Ar.

Commenting on the Spanish industry, Idriss al Issawi emphasized that “It is very advanced and has become a pioneer at the European level,” adding that it is very important and distinctive for the Kingdom of Morocco to benefit from the technology that would be provided by Spain in the field of high-speech train manufacturing.

“Madrid has very advanced experiences in this field, the completion of high-speed in Saudi Arabia and other countries are the best examples from which you can tell the high quality of Spanish trains,” said Al Issawi to Hespress AR.

He concluded that “These data still raise questions about the possibility of Morocco partnering with Spain to manufacture high-speech trains, and whether Madrid will surpass the Chinese and French offers,” stressing that “Surpassing the French offer is possible given of the strengths of its Spanish counterpart.”

Previously, France has been the exclusive provider of high-speed trains in the Kingdom of Morocco. However, ahead of the 2030 World Cup, Spain seems to be the most likely one to take charge of expanding the rail network.

Not only is the expansion of high-speed trains the sole joint economic project between Morocco and Spain as both countries prepare their infrastructure to host this prestigious event, but also the Strait of Gibraltar project came to the forefront right after the FIFA announcement.

The 40-kilometer tunnel that will link the two countries seems to play a pivotal role in the success of the World Cup 2030 and reshaping the economic and regional landscape.

The tunnel seems of strategic importance, as it will facilitate seamless travel and logistic operations among the three hosting countries, and link the African continent to the European one.