The white city suffers from a lack of industrial and service activities that would offer interesting work opportunities. This was stated by Omar Moro, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Services of Tangier (CCIST), during a communicative meeting organised on Saturday, April 6, by the League of Merchants on the economic and commercial situation of Asilah. "The city's economic activities suffer from many forms of imbalances, including the development of the informal sector," he lamented.

Participants in this meeting agreed that Asilah has made a name for itself thanks to its cultural activities, but these cannot be an alternative to local economic development. They regret the fact that some projects of great socio-economic importance, such as the city's port, are unfinished or suffer from a lack of basic infrastructure. According to Mohamed Ghaïlan, president of the Association of Coastal Fishing Shipowners in Asilah, this port, which was created in 1986, lacks almost everything and does not even have a gate, even though it is located in the city centre. "Professionals have to travel to another city to perform even the smallest boat repair work," he said.

Mr. Ghaïlan continued that the finalisation of the construction and equipment work of the port should contribute enormously to the socio-economic development of the city. "These achievements will make it possible to breathe real dynamism into the port and attract shipowners to settle there. They will thus be at the origin of the creation of almost 1,000 additional jobs," he affirmed.

Participants in this event lamented that major economic projects announced within the framework of agreements between the municipal council of Asilah and ministerial and administrative departments are frozen. "We must think about unblocking the pending projects that are of great socio-economic importance for the city," stressed Ahmed Ziani, vice-president of the municipal council of Asilah.

Among the projects highly awaited by the Zaïlachis is the creation of an economic activity zone, which will be carried out thanks to an agreement signed between the Ministry of Finance, the Wilaya of Tangier-Tétouan, the Agency for the Promotion and Development of the Northern Provinces, and the urban commune of Asilah. With a total cost of 140 million DH, this project, which will be built on an estimated area of nearly 57 ha, is composed of a non-polluting industrial zone and a nursery for very small businesses, particularly artisanal ones. It also plans to include, among other things, a commercial equipment complex and a space dedicated to training, in addition to a municipal slaughterhouse, announced recently during one of the ordinary sessions of the municipal council, but for which work has not yet started.