Japan has extended Morocco a loan worth 12.76 billion Yens($114 million) to finance a 120 kilometer-long coastal highway along the Mediterranean ring Al-Hayat reported. The highway will connect Taiwan city with the Jabal Al-Raif area.
The loan, carrying a 2.2 percent interest rate, is reimbursable over 30 years with a 10-year grace period. The new highway is destined to facilitate the movement of goods and people, increase economic and trade activity and improve living conditions of some 1.5 million inhabitants. It will also break the isolation of the mountainous Al-Raif region.
In addition to Japan, other contributors are the European Union, Italy, Spain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The project’s total cost is estimated at 3.51 billion Moroccan dirhams ($319 million). The Mediterranean by-pass is expected to become operational by 2005. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
