Contact: Mourad Beni-ich, 202-578-2014

TANGIER, Sept. 28, 2013 /Standard Newswire/ -- HM King Mohammed VI launched, on Thursday in Tangier, the Tangier-Metropolis program for the city's integrated, balanced and inclusive development.

Tangier-Metropolis Program is part of a large Royal Vision for Progress in Northern Morocco. Since July 1999, the Moroccan monarch has made those territories a top priority to be rebuilt and developed to create the equilibrium between all Moroccan provinces.

The Tangier-Metropolis program was elaborated to be an unprecedented urban model in Morocco and in the southern shore of the Mediterranean. The development plan will span five years (2013-2017) and is totaling 7.663 billion dirhams of investment. The program will step up the city's development and turn Tangier into a hot destination. Based on an innovative approach in terms of integration and coherence of public interventions, this ambitious program takes account of some basic elements, namely the urban environment to improve living conditions, the social environment to enhance the human potential, the economic environment to foster the city's asset and know-how, the cultural environment to reinforce the city's identity, openness and heritage and the religious environment to give religious practice its right place in society.

Concerning the social environment, 25 new schools and 21 day-cares will be built, four schools will be extended and 166 prefabricated classrooms will be converted into permanent structures. All schools will be supplied with drinking water and electricity. As for health, four new community clinics will be set up and six health centers will be redeveloped, in addition to the Mohammed V hospital which will be revamped. An emergency unit and a multi-purpose health center will be constructed. HM the King also ordered to build a city of sports over 60 hectares in accordance with international standards.