Day: January 18, 2017

Alfano visit to Tunis will focus on migration and tourism

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Foreign minister to meet with institutions, Italian community Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano will visit Tunis on Thursday for a series of institutional meetings with the country’s main authorities, focusing on migration and tourism. Upon his arrival, Alfano will be greeted by Italian Ambassador to Tunisia Raimondo De Cardona, who will accompany him with the rest of the Italian delegation to meet with President Beji Caid Essebsi, followed by a press conference. Alfano will then travel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with his Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui.…

World Economic Forum: Future of Arab economies

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“We believe in the digital transformation in Tunisia as it played a huge role in the revolution back in 2011. So we cannot ignore its influence on public life any longer,” Prime Minister Youssef Chahed told Al Arabiya at a debate on Wednesday, on the future of Arab economies at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The debate involved Tunisia’s Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil, Founder of Blockchain Peter Smith and ‎Group CEO at Saudi Telecom Company Khaled H. Biyari. Tunisia has already…

IRI poll reveals persistent dissatisfaction with economy and corruption in Tunisia

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Tunisians are still highly dissatisfied with the economy and appear to link poor economic performance with persistent corruption, a new poll released last Friday by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research shows. A combined 85 percent of respondents describe Tunisia’s current economic situation as either “somewhat bad” or “very bad” (38 percent and 47 percent respectively). 32% think that employment should be the government’s top priority, and 66 percent suggest that employment should be the government’s first priority regarding Tunisian youth. Whilst a combined 61%…

Tunisia, Libya reach deal on Ras Jedir border trade

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Tunisian and Libyan parties on Tuesday reached a deal to resume vital trade through the Ras Jedir crossing point after a week of unrest, a source close to the negotiations told  media. Flow of goods via Ras Jedir border crossing will resume as of January 22 pending the resolution of the computer system issue at the border crossing from the Libyan side, as was agreed at a security meeting held on Tuesday at the Ras Jedir crossing border between senior Tunisian and Libyan officials, Governor of Medenine Tahar Matmati told…

Tunisia: Moody’s maintains stable outlook for sovereign creditworthiness

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Moody’s has maintained a stable outlook for the sovereign creditworthiness in Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt, in its report “Sovereigns — Levant and North Africa: 2017 Outlook — Reform Momentum Supports Stable Outlook Despite Continuing Challenges,” published Sunday. Moody’s explains this stable outlook by lower longer energy price environment as well as the reform momentum in the region, despite continuing political and security headwinds. According to the same report “Improving growth momentum and access to external funding sources under International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs in four of five countries…

EBRD supports small businesses in Tunisia

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a TND 25 million senior unsecured loan to the Compagnie Internationale de Leasing (CIL) for on-lending to local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tunisia. The funds will help CIL finance MSMEs, which are very important to the Tunisian economy but remain largely underserved. It will also provide long-term funding to a leasing company in a country where liquidity has been an issue since 2011. CIL will use the funds to extend leases to MSMEs for the acquisition of…

Social media turns white as Tunisia is blanketed in snow

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Tunisians have been sharing extraordinary pictures of their snow-covered nation after they were hit by winter storms on Sunday. Over a thousand people in the northwestern province of Jendouba were trapped in their cars on Sunday evening during heavy blizzards. Meanwhile, ten emergency shelters were set up in schools and sports centers as temperatures dipped to minus five. While winter snow is not unusual in the Tunisian highlands, this year’s storms have been particularly intense, producing some very social media-ready photos. Foreigners have expressed their surprise that a country which…

Tunisia’s Fledgling Gulf Relations

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Tensions persist between Tunisia and its former ally the UAE, but Tunisia hopes renewed ties could balance out its current dependence on Qatar. The weak Emirati attendance at Tunisia 2020, Tunisia’s investment conference held between November 29 and 30, 2016, highlights the country’s uneven relations across the Gulf. The only Emiratis present were two executives from Dubai Holding, a company owned by Emir of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. They were deferentially received by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, like heads of state. Yet though more than $14 billion…