Speaking at the House of Representatives (lower house), Ms. Ammor pointed out that the Government has allocated, within the framework of this program, a budget of 1.25 billion dirhams (MAD) for the year 2022 to support 10,000 project leaders spread over all regions of the Kingdom.
The said program targets all people over the age of 18, bearers of ideas or entrepreneurial projects, without any particular prequalification conditions, she added.
Those selected will benefit from an interest-free loan of up to 100,000 MAD, including a grant of 10,000 dirhams repayable over a maximum period of 10 years with a deferred period of 2 years, the minister explained.
To benefit from this program, Mrs. Ammor underlined that simplified 5-step procedures have been put in place, namely « registration on the electronic website », « verification of the completeness of the files and the eligibility of projects by a central file processing unit », « the preliminary and technical selection » carried out by a commission supervised by the program management unit (PMU), « the final selection of the projects which will benefit from training » and « the study of funding requests » by a committee made up of the Forsa program management team, incubators and funding institutions, with the support of a representative of the sector concerned.
The minister noted that the results will be communicated to project leaders within a period not exceeding six weeks, not counting the time spent in the incubator, adding that the official launch of this program will be given this Tuesday.
Regarding the ministry’s strategy to revive the handicrafts sector, Ms. Ammor said that it is based on two axes related to the structuring of the sector and the development of supply and marketing.
The first axis includes the creation of the electronic platform of the National Register of Crafts (rna.gov.ma), in accordance with the applicable texts of Law 50.17 on the organization of the handicrafts sector, for the benefit of 172 trades, said the minister, noting that registration with the RNA will allow craftsmen to benefit from the Compulsory Health Insurance (AMO), for a monthly contribution of 135 dirhams for the social coverage of the whole family.
The second axis of this strategy includes infrastructure support and rehabilitation programs, said Ms. Ammor, noting that 64 infrastructures are underway.
In addition, the minister stressed that her department has developed a new approach for the overall development of the product, from the supply of raw materials, to marketing and production, with a total budget of 48 million dirhams, in a first step.
With regard to training, the ministry is working to increase capacity from the current 16,000 to 30,000 places by 2026, she said.
