21 October 2009
column
Tunis — The "Marseille-Provence Mediterranée" Co-operation Committee Association, held on October 19, 2009, jointly with Tunisia's General Consulate in Marseilles and the Tunis-based School of Architecture, a meeting on Robert Khaiat's book: "Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, the President Builder of Modern Tunisia."
Before an audience made up of the first deputy-chairman of the General Council, the deputy-Mayor of Marseilles, MP Jean Roatta and representatives from the local and regional authorities, the world of business and media, as well as over two hundred French friends of Tunisia, Mr. Robert Khaiat presented a ringing testimonial on the work of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who, since his accession to the Presidency of the Repulic, has put the country on the track of democratic transition and economic development, contributing by the efforts he made and through which he was keen to involve those of the country's competences and active forces to hoist Tunisia to the rank of an emerging country and build a modern, stable and balanced society.
Mr. Robert Khaiat chose to reflect, in his work, on the Tunisian society's modernising process in its different aspects, namely access to education, women's emancipation, stability of the economy, culture, etc., through two major dimensions, viz., the country's architecture and infrastructure.
Illustrated with photos, the work highlights the remarkable achievements in matters of modernising the infrastructure carried nationwide in the period spanning 1987 and the present day and which has transformed Tunisia by enhancing its strategic position in the Mediterranean.
In his presentation, the author reviewed the great programmes initiated under President Ben Ali's impetus, including the building of huge interchanges, the Rades-La Goulette Bridge, the construction of Enfidha Airport, etc., which have contributed to boosting the nation's economic activity.
Mr. Robert Khaiat also said, in this regard, that President Ben Ali's vision stems from constants, namely progress, respect of environment, heritage valorising, underlining that "President Ben Ali has built a new, balanced and modern society without losing sight of the need that the natural territories be respected and taken into account as such as part of sustainable development."
Among the people attending this gathering, there was Mr. Yves Lacoste, Chairman of the France-Tunisia Association and former Director-General of the "Société Nationale Corse Mediterranée," who expressed admiration, saying that "the book, which is very pleasant to read, will always be a reference insofar as it managed, with clear and simple words, without being trapped by statistical data, to mirror Tunisia's beautiful image."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Tunisia Online. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
