Roadshow Maroc 2008

When teaming up with Bridgizz in the summer of 2008, we didn't expect us to actually go to Morocco and do the high profile tradeshow we did last week. It seems that things now get serious as we went to Casablanca and Marrakech for the week, middle-eastern style.

Bridgizz is a young ambitious entrepeneur specialized in business opportunities in the Middle-East and North Africa region with international competence. Ahmed Larouz, founder and CEO, a long-term friend from the university of computer science and technology in 1993 was the lead man for this extraordinary operation.

Holiday in Morocco

Leaving on sunday our flight left just in time, as Schiphol Airport was closed down due to heavy snow, 30 minutes after our takeoff. Coming into Morocco, felt like entering a portal; Not only the culture and the scenery was completely different, a nice 21'C in almost mid-winter felt quite comfortable too.

After our first sight-seeing trip around the Corniche, the beach area of Casablanca, it was clear this city was growing as fast as Dubai, with the same project developers coming to Casablanca to construct hotels, mega malls and other western oriented attractions 24/7. 



With Morocco being one of the largest growing economies in the region, the possbilities for bringing business and know-how into the country are open. But you must know where to go and who to contact. Here is where the role of Bridgizz proved essential as we got to meet the vice presidents and executives of one of the largest conglomerates in Morocco and in the region. 



As we went to see the various areas of Moroccan business and industry, it became apparent the Moroccans are clearly catching up on us and are eager to learn and open up to the possibilities of 'the west'. 

Moroccan heritage

With integration being a tense topic in Holland and Moroccans often related to negative publicity, the Moroccan culture and way of life was sort of an eye opener to us. Obviously you know there is a lot of shallow publicity and when bad things happen, often people tend to generalise and focus on the negative aspects of the individuals and project them on the whole. 

But the Marocccan culture too is rich of stories, culture, art and wisdom, as we were shown in all its aspects during our tour. Of course there is still a lot to be done in Morocco and there is still a very large and apparent distinction between the rich and the poor. But Morocco is a progressive, pro-western kingdom, moving fast in becoming a better place for their inhabitants and domestic and foreign business. 



We were fortunate enough to stay in the Ryad Mogador hotels, one of the various commercial industries owned by the Chaabi group. The Moroccan art was astounding. The mix of tradtional and contemporary design throughout was truly magnificent. The walls of the hotels we saw consisted of carved wooden panels, 5 meters high, 12 cm deep. All by hand, all perfectly symmetrical, in a wonderful seemless pattern. The traditional design of the hallways felt like walking in a scene of Prince of Persia or Aladdin.





As it happened, we got to meet the district representative for greater Casablanca, the larger urban area in and around the city. This delayed us on our schedule significantly (in Casablanca traffic is truly and adventure to get through and people don't attend to the traffic rules that well, but have a way of forcing their way through) but the Unesco protected district hall was also a splendorous eye candy that you will not see very often in life. Interestingly the German TV Network acquired clearance for filming a regional event, later that night. 



The five star hotels we were fortunate enough to spend our nights in, were as luxuous as they were magnificent and the mix of traditional Moroccan food and freshly (imported) seafood and wine, made our stay feel like we were treated like Sultans.

A-team

Our delegation consisted of us and two other teams, selected and brought together by Ahmed in a cooperative partnership in three areas of expertise:

• Brand Design
• ICT
• Wireless Technologies

Koeweiden Postma, known for their critically acclaimed redesign of HEMA and Getronics and currently involved with KPN, were truly ambassadors for Dutch Design. They wereTeaming up with BrandNew Design, who did the total rebrand of the Albert stores and the packaging for Albert Heijn. With us having all the knowledge of the backoffice process, software-as-a-service and wireless internet technologies, it felt like we became The A-Team after just spending 5 days together. And this is how we were introduced by Ahmed so we strived very hard to live up to that expectation during the course of the tour. 

Dutch Design

With such a rich heritage, the Moroccans are proud of their culture and rightly so. With Moroccan people being the no. 1 export product for Morocco, the people are not that happy to convey their heritage. Mainly because they don't have much to show for, when they are oversees. Also with integration being part of the problem, the no. 1 challenge for us is to make the Moroccan employees that we visited proud again of what they can do and where they come from. Integrating their rich historical art with contemporary design is a challenge that was met succesfully before with India and Ramadan Festival before, by Koeweiden Postma. 

ICT made in Holland

As with every business, at the end of the day it's all about the money that went out and in. The backoffice software service that we have done over the years supports the primary process of making and tracking money with all sorts of primary processes. Combined with a handson service like wireless internet in hotels and industrial appliances and plants, the Moroccan managers we met, understood there and then how powerful our delegation was.

A lifetime experience

So for our business some concrete steps were made. The different parties of our delegation got to know each other and may be exploring the possibilities between themselves as well. Three days of attending meetings, sight-seeing and eating exquisit Moroccan cuisine felt more like two weeks and certainly something we could get used to.