Mr. Mohamed Benaissa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Mayor of Asilah, opened the Expo Tanger 2012 symposium "Routes and the Meeting of cultures", and stressed the importance of the theme for the candidacy of Tangier to Expo 2012.

BIE President, M. Wu Jianmin said that Expo belong to all the people in the world without exclusion. An Expo can be a factor of development and solidarity between the people, and the theme of Expo 2012 is "much needed in the world today."

Session 1: Routes and Meetings of Cultures

Federico Mayor, President of the Support Committee for Tangier 2007,  confirme his support to Tangier, an African city which is open to all cultures.

Tahar Ben Jelloune, writer and Morocan poet, winner of the 1987 Prix Goncourt, mentioned the great writers, poets and artists from all over the  word for whom Tangier is an example of passion for diversity, a symbol of a real meeting, and a human, cultural and linguistic encounter.

Mustapha Bennouna, President of the University Abdelmalek Essaadi in Tangier expressed, in the name of the students and the teachers, the support of the University. The theme of the Expo brings about a great number of innovations such as, for instance, the Morocan virtual campus that connects all Universities through an Intranet. 

When answering the question: "You spoke about Tangier in the past. What about Tangier today?" Tahar Ben Jelloune added that Tangier encompasses the old traditions that today and in the future, can make it a cosmopolitan city, which has consolidated its identity. It is also a city with a soul and one with which to have a love affair.

The strength of Tangier, according to Mustapha Bennouna, are: its geo-strategic location, its history, its opening to different languages, its light, its human resources and especially its civil society.


Session 2: Routes and Development

Karim Ghellab, Minister and equipment and transport explained different large scale infrastructure project under development. Their goal is to spur Moroccos's economic and social development and to strengthen the confidence of the city.

-    Port of Tangier Mediterranee
-    Seacoast road along the Mediterranean
-    Highways
-    Railroads
-    Airports
-    Sports complexes

The plan for the interconnections with the European and Mediterranean networks were presented, as well as the liberalization of the road transports through the reduction of administrative barriers. Additional projects include the reform of the port sector and the liberalization of maritime and airline transport (in December 2006 Morocco signed the Open sky agreement with the EU, enabling the entrance of new companies in the marocan sky and a sustained growth of the international trafic). These are not plans but concrete realizations. 

According to Mohamed Benchaaboun, Director General of the National Agency for the Regulation of Telecommunications (ARNT), telecoms in Morocco are a key sector of the future economic development. 

-    Liberalization of the telecom market
-    Development of new mobile operators
-    Uninterrupted subscribers growth
-    An increasing number of Internet surfers (1million in 2003 and 6 million in 2007)
-    Offshoring growing significantly (sector that creates employment)

Two programs are in place to facilitate access to all: "Genie" (Genius) brings the Internet into the schools; "Pacte" offers telecommunication services to all to reduce the digital divide and to service local communities.

Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister of Industry, Commerce and the Economy stressed the importance of an integrated approach to sustainable development through a broad plan of reform and opening:

-    Opening to democracy
-    Stronger connections to Europe and Africa
-    The fight against the exclusion caused by poverty

Noureddine Ayouche, President of the ZAKOURA Foundation and of the Association 2007 DABA, reminded the audience that the domain of associations is active in all areas: human rights, culture, fight against illiteracy, poverty, exclusion, micro credit, politics, professional training...

The partnership between the Government and the world of associations is very strong, it is a social commitment of the whole country. More than 50000 associations work on the terrain.

Tangier is a cultural, urban and mythical destination according to Adil Douiri, Minister of Tourism, Craft and Social Economy. This is why today Morocco develops its infrastructure in view of increasing its hospitality capacity.

Session 3: Expos and Cultural Cooperation

Federica Busa, counsellor at the BIE, presented Expos as links in the chain between the experience economy and the development of the brand of a city and of a region.

For Tela Leao, Director of the cultural programme of Expo' 98, of the pavilions of Portugal in Hannover 2000 and Zaragoza 2008, the cultural programs within the Expos are the expression of a spiritual, philosophical and intellectual union. These programs are an opportunity to explore cultural differences. 

Mohammed Hassad, Wali of Tetouan-Tanger and President of the Tangier 2012 Association made a brief summary of the points regarding the bid:

-    Number of expected visitors: 6 million (65 000 visitors per day)
-    Site and access: all pavilions will be located around a 6 ha lake
-    Participation: 100 countries + NGO
-    Accommodation for the staff, Commissioner General and the visitors
-    Investments
-    Financials (the cost of Expo is estimated to $400 million and its revenues to $300 millions)
-    The company that will manage the Expo exists already
-    The costs of developing countries will be completely covered 

Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of the BIE, summarized the presentations of the day. He stressed that each Expo is a great dialogue, designed for citizens, around a theme. To highlight the topics tackled during the symposium he presented the theme from 4 perspectives: the routes as a path of heritage, the routes as a factor of economic integration, the routes as a necessity to communicate and the routes of imagination.

This symposium was a great success: about fifty countries were present along with Morocan political personalities and representatives of civil society who have taken part to this dialogue on the theme of Expo 2012 Tangier.