Economy of Tangier Economy of Tangier Tangier's economy is the third biggest of all Moroccan cities, after the economic capital Casablanca and the political capital Rabat. Tangier is Morocco's second most important industrial center after Casablanca. The industrial sectors are diversified: textile, chemical, mechanical, metallurgical and naval. Currently, the city has four industrial parks of which two have the status of free economic zone (see Tangier Free Zone). The years 2007 and 2008 will be particularly important for the city because of the completion of large construction projects currently being built. These include the Tangier-Mediterranean port ("Tanger-med") and its industrial parks, a 45,000-seat
Tangier Tanger-Ville railway station with Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh in the south, and with Fes and Oujda in the east. The service is operated by ONCF. In November 2018 Africa's first high-speed train, the Kenitra–Tangier high-speed rail line, was inaugurated, linking Tangier to Casablanca in 2 hours and 10. By 2020 improvements between Casablanca and Kenitra are planned to further reduce the journey to 1 hour and 30 minutes. The Rabat–Tangier expressway connects Tangier to Fès via Rabat , and Settat via Casablanca and Tanger-Med port. The Ibn Batouta International Airport (formerly known as Tangier-Boukhalef) is south-west of the city centre.