Morocco plans to invest 116 billion dirhams ($12.97 billion) by 2030 to develop how it handles goods in its drive to boost growth and become a regional trade and investment hub, its transport minister said. “The scheme aims to cut the logistics costs in Morocco in 2015 to 15 percent as a proportion of gross domestic product from 20 percent currently by optimising the steady flow of goods,” Karim Guellab said in an interview. Morocco would build 70 goods handling depots covering some 3,300 hectares in or near the country’s 18 main farming, industrial and export towns and cities. “The logistics development plan needs a total investment of about 116 billion dirhams for the period between 2010 and 2030 including 63 billion dirhams for the 2010-2015,” Guellab said. Foreign and local private investors would play a key role in the planned development with the government inviting bids projects, Guellab said, though he did not give details on the timing of the tenders. “The logistics plan aims to increase Morocco’s gross domestic product by 3-5 percentage (points a year) by 2015,” he said. Morocco’s government forecasts an average of 5 percent annual GDP growth until 2012, mainly on higher infrastructure spending to offset the impact of economic slowdown in its main European trade partners. Growth during 2005-10 averaged 5.0 percent and this year the government expects growth of 3.5 percent. The country aims to achieve average growth of 7 percent by 2015, a level seen as ket to tackling poverty and joblessness. The stimulus to economic growth would come from “lower costs of logistics and development of logistics business that would add up to 20 billion dirhams worth of growth per year,” he said. Free Trade Boost Morocco is seeking to capitalise on free trade agreements with the European Union and United States to attract more trade and investment. It is already implementing a separate plan to spend around $20 billion between 2002 and 2020 to upgrade its port, road, airport and railway networks to boost its competitiveness and investment attractiveness. The logistics scheme unveiled by the minister includes building so-called multi-flow logistics areas, storage and container platforms in main coastal towns like Casablanca, Tangier, Oujda and Nador. The storage platforms will handle imported cereals and petroleum products as well as the export of farming products which account for 20 percent of Morocco’s total sales abroad. “The development of logistics is essential for the success of increasing the competitiveness of our economy and the development of other sectors like farming,” said Guellab. (Reuters)