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Tunisia: 'We Can Create Together a Win-Win Pole That Could Compete With Asia' Says President Sarkozy
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Tunisia Online (Tunis)
29 April 2008
Posted to the web 5 May 2008
In an address to the Tunisian- French economic Forum in Gammarth, North of Tunis, President Nicolas Sarkozy said that France was willing to work with Tunisia "at all levels, political, economic, cultural and academic to build together a common future, a shared destiny".
The statement came during a three- day State visit to Tunisia , as the French Head of State was addressing more than 500 Tunisian and French businessmen gathered for the event.
He also said that that the Mediterranean Union Project could lead to the creation "of a win-win pole that could compete with Asia ".
Evoking some of reasons behind the shortcomings of the Barcelona Process, President Sarkozy said that it resulted from the position adopted by Europe which views the Mediterranean as part of its past while "this region is future", he said, adding that the Mediterranean Union Project "might give birth to a spectacular success or a tragic failure".
"The union for the Mediterranean is a new way of building up the future" he said, noting that there will be "no future for future for Europe if Africa and more particularly North Africa , does not develop".
The project, he added is about concrete projects, noting that a cooperation agreement , had been signed with Tunisia in the field of civil nuclear energy. He also stressed the importance of working together to develop renewable energy.
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The French President also said that students from both shores of the Mediterranean should be able to study in any Mediterranean university of their choice. He also addressed the issue of the joint management of emigration, as well as the issue of security and terrorism, in addition to boosting exchanges across both shores of the Mediterranean .
He further announced that France will set up an aeronautics plant in Tunisia which will employ some 2000 people, and reminded the audience that Tunisia had purchased 16 Airbus planes with an option on three others.
He also vowed to maintain France's leading position as Tunisia's first economic partner with an exchange volume worth some 7 billion Euros, adding that "40% of Tunisia's exchanges are made with France, which is the country's first customer, supplier and investor" and that "one French company is created every five days in Tunisia".
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