Rabat - Morocco is currently funding massive developmental projects in its southern provinces with a budget cover of more than MAD 77 billion ($7.1 billion), Morocco’s King Mohammed VI said.

While delivering a speech on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Green March on Sunday, the King underscored the importance Morocco relegates to overseeing the development of its southern regions. 

The projects in the Southern provinces “launch a real socio-economic dynamic, create jobs and investment opportunities, and provide the region with the infrastructure and facilities it needs,” the King explained. 

Morocco’s development projects constitute an “ambitious program which responds to the concerns and aspirations of the inhabitants of our southern provinces,” the monarch insisted, adding that local elected authorities assume the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of said projects.

The monarch first launched the program in 2015 on the anniversary of the Green March.

“Seven years into the program, it is gratifying to note that the expenditure commitment rate stands at about 80% of the total budget allocated to it,” the King said.

Recalling a number of projects within the program, the monarch highlighted the significant progress made on the Tiznit-Dakhla highway, saying that it has reached “its final stages.”

In addition, the monarch shed light on the progress made relating to connecting southern provinces to the national electric grid, and strengthening the telecommunication infrastructure.

“Similarly, the solar and wind power plants programmed have been completed as well,” he added.

“The construction of the major Dakhla-Atlantic port will begin soon, once the various studies and administrative procedures are completed,” the King continued.

The monarch further noted the different projects relating to agriculture, recalling that the state has invested in developing over 6,00 hectares of agricultural land in Dakhla and Boujdour and put them at the disposal of young farmers belonging to the southern provinces.