Lo, who was speaking at a session focused on the prospective development for Dakhla-Oued Eddahab' initiated by the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES) as part of a meeting of reflection on the future of the region, stressed that "the region of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab has the potential to assert itself in the next ten years as the counterpart of Tangier in southern Morocco, becoming a new integrated and innovative economic pole, that is open to Africa, as Tangier is on Europe and the rest of the world."

This would help consolidate the harmonious territorial development in the Kingdom, in accordance with the vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, he noted.

Highlighting the competitive advantages of region of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab to contribute effectively to the dynamics of consolidating the insertion of Morocco in global and regional trade, Lo referred to the vision of the Kingdom's high authorities which is to make the region and the entire Moroccan Sahara, an integrated and innovative economic hub, especially around the blue economy, a hub and a link between Morocco and the countries of the West African region.

"Large-scale projects have already been set up for this purpose, including the project to build the largest Atlantic port of Dakhla, coupled with an industrial and logistics zone," he said.

In addition to the geography of the region, the youth of its population (about 29% under 15 years), its natural resources, its tourism potential, as well as its positioning on global trades namely automotive, aerospace, food, textiles and leather, electronics and off shoring services, he added.

In this regard, he underlined that the region could also develop several emerging trades such as activities related to water sports, heritage crafts related to Hassanian culture, renewable energy (marine, wind, solar), shipbuilding and mining industries.

In the same context, Lo stressed that the Kingdom has made the advanced regionalization a strong axis of its options for accelerating national development, adding that this option is confirmed in the new development model that makes the territories "spaces of co-design of public policies with the State and an adapted place for successful implementation."

For his part, the Director General of the Regional Investment Center of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab, Mounir Houari, highlighted the potential of the region in the fields of fisheries and agriculture, noting that the region is full of "huge investment opportunities especially in relation to green energy."

He also stressed that the Region has the required infrastructure to host African startups, noting, in this regard, that Dakhla-Oued Eddahab has recorded a major breakthrough in terms of funding startups.

On this occasion, Houari called for more support for this type of business especially in the startup phase and to focus on human capital by using more leverage for training.

The vocation of IRES is to contribute to making decisions on strategic issues. Its mission is to carry out strategic studies and analyses on matters submitted by His Majesty the King and perform a strategic watch function, both at the national and international level, in various areas considered as strategic for the country. IRES analyses domestic structural issues, examines Morocco's external relations in their multiple dimensions and attaches great attention to global issues.