27 October 2009
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Tunis — The 8th Tunisian-French Partnership Days were held on Monday in Tunis, by the Tunisian-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CTFCI) focusing on the setting up of property, tourist, infrastructure projects that will provide opportunities of development as well as employments to Tunisian and French small- and medium- size enterprises.
In his address, Mr. Foued Lakhoua, the CTFCI Chairman, said that this two-day event will be business to business (B to B) meetings between French and Tunisian enterprises operating notably in the building sector.
He said that this event will make better known the Tunisian investment opportunities, notably food industry, medical equipment, hotels equipment and building materials sector.
He stressed that "the Tunisian market is not as limited as it is thought to be," noting that Tunisian-French trade exchanges are currently estimated at 7 billion euros (12,6 billion dinars), for an overall population of 10-million inhabitants, which equals the amount of France and Morocco trade exchanges, for a population of 30-million inhabitants.
Mr. Lakhoua noted that some 12 thousand French enterprises are bound by trade relations with Tunisia, compared to 4200 for Brazil, 3 thousand for India, 7 thousand for Turkey and 8 thousand for China.
These projects aim at establishing two water purification stations in Tunis worth 61 million Euros (109.8 million dinars), a national program of coastal protection against sea erosion at a cost of 25 million Euros (45 million dinars), drinking- water supply projects (construction of a sea-water desalination station in Djerba by means of 36 million Euros, 64.8 million dinars and in Gabès, at a cost of 38 million Euros and reinforcing of water storing and treatment capacities in the Sahel and Sfax areas.
Insofar as the energy sector is concerned the Tunisian French cooperation projects includes the construction of a combined-cycle power station in El Haouaria amounting to 526 million Euros (946.8 million dinars) and another in Ghannouch worth 263 million Euros (473. million dinars), the Skhira refinery worth 842 million Euros (1,515.6 million dinars) and the Tunisian Solar Plan whose cost is estimated at 2 billion Euro (3.6 billion dinars).
Other projects such as the project of the Tunis-based Offshore Financial Centre, and the ICT project, the "Tunis Telecom City" project were also presented.
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