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“The craft sector provides more than 1.4 million direct employment positions”
Abdelkrim Berki on national radio:
The 26th International Traditional Crafts Fair (SIAT 2025) opened its doors yesterday at the Moufdi-Zakaria Palace of Culture (Algiers). On this occasion, the Director General of the National Chamber of Crafts and Trades (CNAM), Abdelkrim Berki, recalled during his intervention on Channel III of the National Radio, the importance of this sector in the national economic sphere indicating that this segment generates more than 1.4 million direct employment positions.
Adding, in this wake, that Algeria has 470,266 artisans, Mr. Berki revealed that the craft sector contributes 400 billion dinars to the national GDP. “We are not going to be happy about it, because we aspire to better,” he said.
Indeed, the CEO of the CNAM aims to reach the figure of 700,000 artisans by 2030, as well as 2 million jobs and a contribution to the GDP with a figure greater than 400 billion GDP dinars.
Returning to SIAT 2025, the speaker indicated that this edition, scheduled for November 9 to 15, 2025, is placed under the theme ”Traditional Algerian crafts: heritage, authenticity and artistic creativity” and coincides with the celebration of the National Artisan Day.
In terms of participation, he indicated that this event will see the presence of 334 artisans, 264 Algerian artisans and 70 foreign artisans from 12 countries.
“There will also be the presence of institutions and ministries which revolve around crafts such as the Ministry of Vocational Training, that of Start-ups, Higher Education, or the Ministry of Vocational Training, as well as aid schemes such as Nesda and Engem,” he said, indicating that there will also be three days of study in parallel with the commercial activities of artisans.
In addition, Mr. Berki spoke of digitalization which is “in full swing in this segment”. He cited, in this sense, the digitization of the craftsman’s card “with a QR code which allows us to have a lot of information and also allows the exploitation of institutions other than ours”, he explained, before continuing: “This card, worthy of its name, also allows us to have traceability and follow the course of our craftsman until retirement. It also facilitates the collection of statistics and their analysis in order to have reliable figures. It even allows us to predict which activities are likely to be in difficulty in order to take the necessary measures.”
Mr. Berki also addressed the artisans and urged them to bring a touch of modernity in their products and in their way of working, follow the evolution and the desires and needs of the customer so that their products can be visible and accessible internationally.
Manuel Z.