Morocco, Spain Hold 43rd Session of Joint Committee for Fixed Link Through Strait of Gibraltar

The Moroccan-Spanish joint committee for the fixed link through the Strait of Gibraltar held, Monday, its 43rd session under the chairmanship of Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, and Spanish Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez Jiménez. “The main objective of the session is to set the principles and main lines of the common work plan SNED/SECEG 2023-2025 carried by a shared vision of mobilization in synergy of scientific and technical networks, both at the national level in each country and at the international level, in order to capitalize on the major achievements in the past, but also to operate the breakthroughs of necessary developments thanks to advances in the state of the art in the areas of the project,” said a statement by the Ministry of Equipment and Water. This session was organized by the Spanish side after a long period separating it from the 42nd session held on October 29, 2009 in Tangier, given the fact that the sessions of the committee are held alternately in each country under bilateral agreements, thus concretizing the common will to relaunch the project of fixed link, noted the statement, stressing that this willingness was formalized by the signing of the memorandum of understanding on infrastructure during the Moroccan-Spanish high-level meeting held in Rabat on 1 and 2 February 2023. The project of fixed link through the Strait of Gibraltar “is of particular interest to government officials of both countries, which regularly welcome the perfect cooperation on this project and renew their joint commitment,” noted the ministry. The geographical position of the Strait of Gibraltar gives this project an exceptional position in the Euro-African strategy of major international land transport networks leading to Spain and Morocco. It should be noted that the project of fixed link has been continuously enriched by studies and reflections conducted in recent years and has been carried by a dynamic research, development and scientific innovation extremely fruitful and evolving. The joint committee for the fixed link through the Strait of Gibraltar was created under the cooperation agreements signed between Morocco and Spain, respectively on October 24, 1980 and September 27, 1989, as well as the companies in charge of the studies of the project: the SECEGSA in Spain and SNED in Morocco. This 43rd session was attended by the embassies of the Kingdom of Spain in Rabat and the Kingdom of Morocco in Madrid, members of the joint committee, senior officials of the Ministry of Equipment and Water and executives of state companies in charge of studies.