LaayouneConnect.com, a marketing platform launched with US support

The “Laayouneconnect” marketing platform, an initiative funded by the US government, was launched Wednesday in Laayoune with a view to boosting investment and territorial marketing in the Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region.

The launch of this platform is part of the project “Promoting economic opportunities in Dakhla and Laâyoune”, funded by the US government through the United States Partnership Initiative in the Middle Orient (MEPI).

This project, implemented by the international consulting and design office JE Austin Associates (based in Washington with a regional office in Rabat) in partnership with the Regional Investment Center (CRI), aims to promote the potential and economic assets of Laayoune, through facilitating opportunities for B2B exchanges and partnerships.

It also seeks to promote economic collaboration at the national and international level in several key sectors, including agribusiness, fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, renewable energies and logistics.

The “www.LaayouneConnect.com” platform will also promote direct contact between local companies and potential investors (national and foreign), through an innovative search engine allowing the search and geolocation of companies according to their sector of activity and their points of interest (opening of capital to an investor, creation of a joint venture, search for suppliers and / or customers, etc.)

For the MEPI deputy regional director Tyler Joyner, this platform will allow investors both nationally and internationally to find information on business opportunities in Laayoune. “We will also help companies to connect with each other, promote B2B marketing as well as reach international investors,” he said during the launch ceremony of this project. He invited businessmen to register on this platform in order to contribute to the creation of growth, wealth and employment.

For his part, the director of the CRI of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, Mohammed Jifer, indicated that this platform, which is part of the digital transition initiated by the region, constitutes an important link in the value chain for the region’s economic development.

Jifer also emphasized the region’s “latest generation” infrastructure being developed through Morocco’s development programs as well as the development of private investments recorded in Laayoune during the last years.

Wednesday’s unveiling event included a ceremony to honor sixty young male and female entrepreneurs from the region that participated in training related to LaayouneConnect.

The entrepreneurs will use their newly developed skills to promote economic opportunities around Laayoune through improved social networking, e-commerce, and inter-business networking skills.