Morocco strengthens its ties with the Port of Huelva
In April, Mohamed VI invited Sánchez to Rabat; in what was to be his first official visit, a joint resolution was issued setting out the road map between the two countries once full diplomatic relations had been re-established. The main objective set at the time was the full normalisation of the movement of people and goods, including appropriate land and maritime customs and people control mechanisms. The first step was the intention to re-establish "Operation Crossing the Strait", which involves the annual return of thousands of Moroccans settled in Europe. It is also intended to find a way to gradually recover all frequencies of maritime passenger connections. Among the many open issues, the standardisation and "management of air space" stand out.
With the signing of the agreement, the Port of Huelva has taken a giant step towards reinforcing its relations with the ports of the Kingdom of Morocco from various points of view such as technological, commercial and operational, thus anticipating the setting up of possible new future direct maritime connections from the port of Huelva to the neighbouring country. In this contextual framework, the president of the Port of Huelva, Pilar Miranda, has signed a protocol of actions for the study and potential development of processes of digitalisation of the maritime-port chains with the CEO of PORTNET S.A. (National Single Window for Foreign Trade Procedures of Morocco), Youssef Ahouzi.
The objective of the aforementioned protocol of actions lies in facilitating the study and potential development of digitalisation processes of the maritime-port chains between the Port Authority of Huelva and Portnet to link the computer systems of both parties through the appropriate telematic interfaces with the aim of stimulating global maritime trade between Huelva and Morocco and supporting the innovation ecosystem, by creating a true integrated technological and maritime link for all the actors involved throughout the global value chain to and from each country.
The President of the Port of Huelva explained that this is a protocol of actions, a precursor between entities in Spain and Morocco. The Port Authority of Huelva, within the framework of its Strategic Plan, has set vital objectives related to the diversification and consolidation of its traffic, with specific actions aimed at increasing the number of regular shipping lines which will allow an increase in maritime traffic. Thanks to the commitment to digitalisation, the sharing of information between the Port of Huelva and Portnet will be facilitated, and will contribute to improving the services in the port for the traffic between the two countries.
In this way, international maritime trade between Huelva and Morocco will be boosted. Due to the geographical proximity of Morocco, its exponential growth in goods traffic and the relations between the two countries, the Port Authority of Huelva has worked together with the Moroccan administrations to increase commercial and logistical relations and thus establish another gateway for Moroccan products to the rest of Europe and America, and vice versa, that is to say, to build a complementary "Euro-African" bridge. One of the key points to be resolved is the control of irregular immigration, which is why both parties have committed to relaunching and strengthening cooperation on migration.
