EU invests €600,000 to boost Morocco's cultural and creative industries

A partnership agreement between the European Union and the General Confederation of Enterprises in Morocco (CGEM) allocates 600,000 euros to the Moroccan Forum of Cultural and Creative Industries (FICC), to support this sector at national level.

A signing ceremony was held on Monday June 3, attended by Patricia Llombart Cussac, Ambassador of the EU Delegation, and Chakib Alj, President of the CGEM, in the presence of Neila Tazi, President of the FICC.

The project, titled «ICC: Innovation and Diversity, Engines of Development», is part of the Support Program for Moroccan Cultural and Creative Industries, launched in June 2023 by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Communication and the EU Ambassador to Morocco, and which is the first of its kind within the framework of the Morocco-EU Partnership, a release informs. The 48-month program is designed to «stimulate the emergence of the CCI sector in Morocco and its contribution to economic growth», as well as job creation.

This framework will also enable the FICC to «strengthen its advocacy with companies in the sector and public authorities to encourage cultural entrepreneurship, work to strengthen the legal framework for CCIs and, in particular, the status of cultural enterprise». For Neila Tazi, «the actions included in this program will open up new prospects for a sector with great potential, in terms of job creation and support for other strategic sectors, such as tourism and territorial development».

As part of the same project, studies are to be carried out, in addition to actions for «the export of Moroccan cultural products, access to financing and training needs, and more broadly, for a better understanding of the socio-economic impact» of this sector.

Along the way, the project will support FICC's global advocacy for the sector, including the holding of the second edition of the Assises des Industries culturelles et créatives.