The Maison de l’Artisan (MDA) held this Wednesday, December 28, its board of directors under the chairmanship of the Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor. The action plan for 2023 was adopted on the occasion.
Speaking at this meeting, which saw the presentation of the report on the achievements of the year 2022 as well as the draft budget of the MDA for the year 2023, the Minister underlined that ” the active contribution of the Maison de l’Artisan, with the ministry and other partners, within the framework of the strategic project of the generalization of social coverage, promoted by King Mohammed VI, has made it possible to identify more than 720,000 artisans of which more than 500,000 have been pre-registered with the Mandatory Health Insurance (AMO) and more than 340,000 registered with the National Register of Crafts (RNA)”says a press release from the ministry.
Furthermore, she continued, “2022 has crystallized the great development potential of the sector, and according to our projections, exports will reach a record level of 1 billion dirhams in 2022 with a growth of 15% compared to 2021”.
This reflects, according to the minister, “a double desire to open the products to international markets on the part of the ministry and its organization MDA and also on the part of the Moroccan craftsmen who accompany us in this strong international dynamic”.
For his part, the Director General of the MDA, Tarik Sadik, reviewed the main achievements for the year 2022, “a year of effective recovery, marked by the implementation of several programs to strengthen the capacities of craftsmen, improve their competitiveness and develop export activity, in particular the launch of centers of excellence for the Carpet and Pottery sectors -Ceramics and the establishment of partnerships for the marketing of Moroccan craft products internationally, in particular with Galeries Lafayette in France and El Corte Ingles in Portugal”.
It should be noted that the year 2022 was also marked by the organisation, under the high royal patronage, of the 7th edition of the National Crafts Week (SNA). The Opening Forum of this edition, deliberately open to international operators, saw the participation of 500 people from 15 countries. The SNA has thus made it possible to set up a platform for partnerships and business development with a large network of national and international operators.
The Board of Directors also reviewed the Maison’s action plan for the 2023 financial year, structured around improving knowledge and characterizing demand, supporting players, promoting and communication as well as strengthening the organization, management and evaluation of programs.
In this sense, the Maison de l’Artisan has planned to consolidate its activities in mature markets, in particular the American market, the leading export market with 38% of exports, and to strengthen the prospecting of new growth markets, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In addition, there are also plans to expand the implementation of the centers of excellence program, to roll out two new programs aimed at supporting aggregators and exports and to strengthen partnerships with economic operators. national and international, in particular e-commerce platforms and distribution players.
The year 2023 will also see the deployment of the new annual program of trade fairs which will see the participation of Moroccan craftsmen, for the first time, in the prestigious Salone Del Mobilé in Italy and the ICFF in the United States.