The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Mohamed El Moez Belhoucine, supervised this morning, Friday, June 09, 2023 in the city of Kairouan, accompanied by the Wali of the region, Mr. Mohamed Bourguiba, and in the presence of a number of executives in the Ministry, the Director General of the National Office of Handicrafts, Mr. Fawzi Ben Halima, the Vice-President of the National University of Handicrafts, and the people’s deputies for the province of Kairouan On the work of the periodic symposium of the regional delegates of handicrafts. During the symposium, the activities and the most important work programs of the regional delegates of the Bureau for the year 2022 and the first triennium for the year 2023 were presented, with the presentation of the most important regional programs, activities and projects for the second semester of the same year, in addition to a presentation of the most important promotional stations for traditional industries for this year, such as national, regional and international demonstrations and exhibitions, as these were The symposium is an opportunity to present the various problems of the sector and present proposals to overcome them. In a speech he delivered on the occasion, the Minister of Tourism confirmed that the holding of this symposium in the state of Kairouan has several implications, the first of which is that the Aghlabid capital is considered a center for traditional industries. He highlighted the importance of this symposium, which aims to follow up the work of all regional delegates for handicraft industries and to find out their work conditions and concerns, adding that it is also held within the framework of following up the implementation of the decisions of the Ministerial Council held on March 16, 2023 on export in the handicraft sector, especially with regard to supporting export incentives and simplifying procedures. "Easy export" project and the development of production capacity with the aim of boosting operation, development and financing by raising the ceiling of circulating money and urging banks to provide special financing to support export operations and financial transactions in addition to marketing support and promotion opportunities to introduce traditional industries on a large scale. The Minister appreciated the efforts made by all the Bureau's employees and the regional delegations of traditional industries in order to advance the sector, calling for the need to continue efforts to increase awareness of young entrepreneurs and facilitate procedures for investors and further coordination with the concerned structures regarding the provision of raw materials and the intensification of promotional days and the organization of special days for the creation of private companies In the traditional industries sector, given that this sector is one of the engines of development and job creation, especially in the interior regions. In the same context, the minister highlighted that the traditional industries sector contributes to the national economy with no less than 5% of the gross gross product, and employs about 350,000 artisans, male and female, and creates nearly 6,000 jobs annually. He stated that there is an improvement in all indicators related to the handicrafts sector, especially at the export level, as Tunisia recorded last year a very important number, and for the first time, more than 350 million dinars as the value of the exports of this sector, adding that it is possible by the end of this year to reach an amount of 500 million dinars if The efforts of all those involved in the sector came together and all the appropriate conditions were created.