Tunis — Mr. Hatem Ben Salem, Minister of Education and Training conferred, on Saturday in Tunis, with Mr. Robert Bismuth, chairman of "Marseilles-Provence-Mediterranean Cooperation Committee so as to identify cooperation opportunities offered toboost the clothing-textile sector's output in vocational training centers.

The minister called for a memorandum of understanding between the Tunisian Agency for Vocational Training and "Marseille-Provence" Cooperation Committee, stressing the importance of human potentials and material resources of vocational training centers to develop clothing-textile sector and to open new horizons for trainers and trainees in fashion, dress design and sewing sectors as well as to promote production and marketing.

Adviser to Marseilles-Provence-Mediterranean Mediterranean Co-operation Committee chairperson, Mrs. Maryline Bellieud-Vigouroux said that this cooperation aims at setting up new training modalities based on reinforcing relations between training centers and major fashion and dress design houses in France.

Tunisia has 8 sector-based centers in the clothing-textile sector, which ensure training for 8,000 youths, including 1, 000 in dress design and fashion sectors.

In 2008, exports of Tunisian garments have yielded revenues worth 5180, 1 million dinars.

95% of Tunisian clothing and textile exports are destined to European markets, the main Tunisian partner, including France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom.

Since 2006, Tunisia has become the fourth largest supplier to the European Union in clothing, after China, Hong Kong and Turkey.