The first edition of the Moroccan International Carpet Fair “Marrakech carpet fair” was launched on Monday, December 5 in the ocher city, on the sidelines of the 7th National Crafts Week. An ideal opportunity to promote the Moroccan carpet and its know-how. “Marrakech carpet fair” is a trade fair that promotes handmade carpets and the know-how of artisans. The opportunity to exhibit a selection of rural and contemporary Moroccan rugs that incorporates new trends, lifestyle and demand requirements, particularly in terms of design and creativity. “ARTCO is a Moroccan company, founded in 1992, specializing in the manufacture and marketing of handmade carpets. We offer our customers a product of quality and high artistic value,” said Issam Akrifalla, southern region manager of ARTCO, in a statement to La Vie Éco. He also stressed that “we are diversifying our offer by including new ranges of carpets with different textures inspired by Moroccan culture and open to the world”, noting that “we are here to market our products and to highlight Moroccan rug. “. Thanks to its variety, which reflects the diversity of Moroccan culture and the tangible and intangible heritage of the Kingdom, the handmade carpet is one of the flagship products most in demand by national and international demand. Thus, a group of professional buyers from several countries took part in the Show to discover the carpets on display and explore avenues for partnership with the producers and aggregators present. This is the case of Nilia Musavi, a Russian visitor: “I am here to buy Moroccan rugs. The forum presents a range of rugs of all colors and shapes,” adding that she loves this ancestral art which reflects the richness of Moroccan culture. The export of handicrafts is at the heart of the concerns of officials. In this sense, Badia Bitar, president of the ASMEX Marrakech Safi region, specified, in a statement to La Vie Éco, that her participation in the 7th National Crafts Week aims “to initiate craft businesses to join the ASMEX and to facilitate them all the good practices of the import-export”. “We help companies to join the programs presented by the Ministry of Crafts, as well as all the other programs that are related to SMEs, VSEs, and cooperatives,” she explained. The “Marrakech carpet fair” aims to become a regular meeting place for professionals in the handmade craft carpet and will open up in its next editions to carpet producers from other countries responding to the positioning of the event and to the quality standards required by international demand. It should be noted that several personalities and stakeholders, at national and international levels, took part in the inauguration of the Fair, in particular Mustapha Baitas, Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament, Government Spokesperson, Tarik Sadik, Director general of the Maison de l’Artisan, Karim Kassi-Lahlou, wali of the Marrakech-Safi region, governor of the prefecture of Marrakech and Papa Amadou Ndiyae, Minister of Handicrafts and the Transformation of the Informal Sector of Senegal.