According to the same source, the earthquake struck the country weeks before the peak of the tourism season, noting that the sector had accounted for more than 10 percent of economic activity and total employment before the Corona pandemic, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Stay away from exaggeration
Rachid Sari, President of the African Center for Strategic Studies and Digitization, stressed that these expectations are “far from reality” in his estimation, as these numbers are not necessarily based on accurate studies and supports.
He added in an interview with Sky News Arabia, “The earthquake inflicted huge human losses on Morocco, with great regret, in addition to no less severe economic damage, especially in the tourism field.”
At the same time, he stressed “the necessity of verifying numbers and data and not falling into exaggeration.”
He continued, saying: “We are in a stage of healing the wounds, and counting our human losses, and I think that the human factor is the first affected, more than any other factor.”
Reconstruction planning
The expert in the field of economics highlighted that, “Most of the areas affected by the earthquake do not know any economic activity, and that most of their residents are simple people who practice traditional activities. He pointed out that all the roads leading to these towns are rugged secondary roads.”
In this regard, and after overcoming this painful ordeal, he called for “thinking about innovative ways to rehabilitate and reconstruct these areas, in addition to creating new activities for the residents of these regions and creating productive economic projects that benefit these residents, especially in the field of tourism, by establishing infrastructure.” Strong and resorts with the aim of giving it new capabilities to create job opportunities.”
In a related context, the International Monetary Fund stated that it is working to support Morocco and its economy after the earthquake tragedy, as Marrakesh is scheduled to host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank starting next October 9.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that the Moroccan government wants to move forward with hosting the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank scheduled for October in Marrakesh, despite the devastating earthquake that the country witnessed.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank declined to comment on Morocco’s position on the meetings, and referred Reuters to a joint statement with India, France, the European Union and the African Union issued at the weekend to express condolences for the loss of life and property and spoke of “the readiness to support Morocco in the best possible way,” including: It meets immediate short-term financial needs.
The two institutions said their immediate focus is on initial post-disaster efforts.
The death toll from the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the High Atlas Mountains region, 72 kilometers southwest of Marrakesh, reached nearly 2,900 on Monday, with more than 2,500 people injured.
Complicating efforts to search for survivors is the collapse of traditional mud-brick houses, turning them into dusty rubble in the most affected areas.
Marrakesh sustained some damage in the old downtown area, but the more modern parts of the city were largely spared. One of the sources said that the site of the IMF and World Bank meetings, a complex of temporary structures on the outskirts of the city near the airport, remained largely intact, and that preparatory work was continuing.
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