Marrakech Craft Chamber Embraces Digital Solutions to Combat COVID-19 Impact

During this ordinary session of the Chamber of Crafts of Marrakech-Safi, in October 2020, the crucial issue of managing the incalculable consequences resulting from the health crisis was addressed. According to the President of the Chamber, Hassan Chamiss, this session examined the direct repercussions of the pandemic and the constraints currently facing craftsmen and craft enterprises at the local, regional and national levels. Thus, at the end of the work of this session, reports La Map, "a series of proposals, petitions and recommendations has been drawn up and will have to be transmitted by the general assembly to the authorities concerned".

Hassan Chamiss indicated that "the proposals presented by the members unanimously stressed the imperative to support the sector and the craftsmen at the regional level, by turning to digitalization as a modern and innovative alternative that would allow craftsmen to overcome the repercussions of this unprecedented health crisis", stressing that "the Chamber has contributed to the organization of trade fairs that have allowed craftsmen to promote their products". He will also add that "digital platforms have become in the current context of the pandemic an alternative and an orientation to adopt to overcome the current crisis".

In his presentation on the partner platforms that allow craftsmen to promote their products online, the regional director of crafts, Hicham Bardouzi, for his part, stressed that the supervisory ministry has defined 7 dedicated digital platforms, as part of the program to support the marketing of craft products through electronic promotion. He also noted that Morocco is among the pioneering countries in the field of e-commerce at the continental level, with proof being the turnover of this sector which reached 3 billion dirhams in 2017, i.e. 2.35% of all goods and services, with more than 4.2 million consumers, representing 12% of the population.

In addition to the repercussions of