Tunisia- Difficult situation for the cottage industry, 40% have closed

The president of the National Federation of Crafts, affiliated to the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), Saleh Amamou, warned of the repercussions of the COVID health crisis on the cottage industry sector.

He added that most of its institutions have ceased to function and approximately 40% of them have closed.

Amamou affirmed, Wednesday, October 07, 2020, that the sector is going through an unprecedented crisis, assuring that the situation is worse than during the economic crisis of 2008, or during the Gulf War.

“We have never seen such difficulties before, as we receive daily requests for help from artisans who are forced to leave their stores due to their inability to pay the rent,” he said.

He said that the activity of the cottage industries sector is linked to the internal and external markets which in turn are closely linked to tourism.

As for the local market, Amamou explained that the purchasing power of Tunisian citizens has deteriorated, making traditional products a luxury difficult to obtain. As for the foreign market, tourist activity is almost stopped, which has resulted in the inability of artisans to promote their products, which has prompted them to stop production because the storage of the product, for most of them, is not possible due to its high cost, he stressed.