A cooperation accord signed Wednesday between the Italian news agency ANSA and its Tunisian counterpart TAP will focus on the Mediterranean, political and humanitarian tensions as well as economic relations between the countries in the region.
The agreement was signed in Tunis by ANSA CEO Giuseppe Cerbone and his TAP counterpart, Lotfi Arfaoui, during a seminar entitled ‘The Future and Challenges in Bilateral Relations and Cooperation between Italy and Tunisia’.
“This agreement is a great opportunity to strengthen the already wide-ranging collaboration between Italy and Tunisia,” Cerbone said, while Arfaoui thanked ANSA for its “strategic” cooperation.
The agreement will focus on the main issues faced by the Mediterranean region: from migration to the fight against terrorism, from the role played by the European Union to the outlook for partnerships in business, media, food and agriculture between the two countries. “It is extremely important that the two large news agencies combine their skills. Europe, Italy and Tunisia all feel the need for (informed) public opinion,” noted David Sassoli, European Parliament Vice-President.
“Every relationship between Italy and Tunisia is an investment for Europe,” he added, noting that the stability of the Mediterranean and especially “the political issue of Tunisia, which is in a democratic transition that should be encouraged, are EU priorities”.
The ANSA-TAP agreement “is fundamental for the diffusion of information on Tunisia”, Italian ambassador to Tunisia Raimondo De Cardona said, in order to have “information that is clear, in-depth, and that offers strong assurances to those working at the international level”. Agriculture Undersecretary Giuseppe Castiglione stressed that the accord would foster a strengthening of agricultural production in the Mediterranean area “so that it becomes ever more sustainable”. Castiglione added that the region “could become a large pilot area in which water resources are used rationally and where the issue of climate change and environmental sustainability are reflected on.” Tunisia’s secretary of state for foreign affairs, Sabri Bach Tobji, highlighted the “friendly relations between Italy and Tunisia” and the “strategic and deeply rooted cooperation” between the two that derives from their shared history.
The event was organized under the patronage of the Italian foreign ministry and its Tunisian counterpart, while the media partnership was entrusted to ANSAmed and TAP, in collaboration with Tunisair. Founded in 1963, TAP is the main source of information on Tunisia with its roughly 150 journalists and about a dozen regional offices. The news agency provides news in three languages – Arabic, French and English – and has a photographic service as well.
About 90% of the agency revenue comes from the state and the rest from subscriptions and photographic products. Lamjed Hemdani has been TAP editor-in-chief since 2016.
Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) is the top news agency in Italy and one of the top ones in the world and was founded in Rome in 1945. It gathers and transmits news in Italian, English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese on major Italian and world news with over news pieces, 2,000 photos and 60 videos every day. ANSA has 22 offices in Italy and 73 offices for correspondents abroad on five continents. The editor-in-chief is Luigi Contu.
ANSA
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