The Logistics Sector on the Southern Shores of the Western ... - cetmo

October 2010<strong>The</strong> <strong>Logistics</strong> <strong>Sector</strong>on the Southern Shores of the Western Mediterranean• Developing a national plan for vocational training.Alongside this new strategy, the government is continuing the process of liberalization andimproving regulations.<strong>The</strong> set of measures is presented in the form of a performance contract involving not only theMinistry of Equipment and Transport (MET), but also other ministries and the MoroccanBusiness Federation. <strong>The</strong> performance contract will be carried out by means ofimplementation contracts involving sectoral and horizontal measures. <strong>The</strong> future MoroccanAgency for <strong>Logistics</strong> Development will take on the management of the performance contract.In Tunisia, the government wishes to develop multimodal transport and logistics in order toincrease the country's foreign trade. It has set the goal of improving logistics so that logisticscosts decrease from 20% to 15% of GDP.A vast study leading to a series of measures was carried out by the World Bank incollaboration with the Ministry of Transport. <strong>The</strong> latter has already got down to work on thecorresponding action plan, which is divided into two parts: an assessment of the logisticssituation in the country and a set of measures. <strong>The</strong> main specific objectives of thegovernment plan stemming from the assessment are as follows:• To optimize logistics costs: one of the basic measures envisaged is to develop logisticszones near ports as well as inland.• To double the rail-freight share by raising it from the current 3% to 6% by 2014.• To double the CTN's share in maritime transport by raising it from 9% to 18%(Presidential Directive).• To promote the outsourcing of logistics operations and to make third-party transport morecommon.• To modernize professions related to logistics: forwarding agents, shipping agents,customs agents, etc.<strong>The</strong> action plan put forward by the Ministry of Transport aims to develop services andinfrastructure. It contains 78 strategic and operational measures. Even if the majority implyan initiative on the part of government departments, all require a framework for cooperationwith the private sector.One of these measures is the creation of the National <strong>Logistics</strong> Council chaired by the PrimeMinister. Over and above its consulting function, the council will be in charge of overseeingand promoting the implementation of the plan. <strong>The</strong> Minister of Transport will be involved assecretary to the Council.In Algeria, following agreements with the European Union, a programme made up of 15projects involving the Ministry of Transport and receiving European funding is under way.One such project is the development of the new National Transport Plan, which updates thepreceding version. <strong>The</strong> programme also includes other initiatives such as a logistics activitieszone in Oran, an analysis of costs and charges, and different regulatory factors.A Project Support Unit (PSU) has been created for follow-up and monitoring. A follow-upcommittee made up of Ministry representatives and PSU experts has been assigned to eachstudy and project.128 CETMO