Economic forum on boosting export to the African market

Tunisia has bet on the African market as a promising destination for a number of export sectors Minister of Trade Amor Behi said at an economic forum on boosting export to the African market held Wednesday in Sfax.

The country will officially enter the Lusaka-Zambia Heads of Government Summit in July 2018 in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which has nearly 40 million consumers, he said in a statement.

A number of businessmen, exporters, representatives of the professional structures and export and investment support will attend this meeting organised by the Tunisian-African Business Council.

The minister listed a set of measures and guidelines taken by the Higher Export Council to boost export activities to the African market. He urged businessmen and exporters to persevere to recover the Libyan market as a strategic export destination, saying the Tunisian-Libyan joint commission will be held on July 4, 2018.

According to him, Tunisia has registered in the field of export satisfactory results, 2017 is a euphoric year for the export which recorded a record rate at constant price of 4.3% and 8.8% during the first six months of 2018.

Bassem Loukil, chairman of the Tunisia-Africa Business Council (TABC), said that his institution has, over the last three years, made it possible to access several African markets with a traditional relationship with Tunisia, like Mali and of Guinea, thanks to a series of visits and business missions.

He encouraged businessmen to strengthen their relations and make the most of the opportunities offered in the aforementioned countries.

Promising sectors of Tunisian-African cooperation included health, digital economy products and other services.

He said, it is necessary to take advantage of the new airlines and new maritime routes that will be established with several African capitals.

Loukil gave an overview of the events that his institution plans to organise during this year in order to strengthen trade in the African market in the field of thermal tourism and higher education.

Currently, Tunisian exports to sub-Saharan countries are limited, despite a slight improvement that reached 8%, according to the Trade Minister.

The Sfax Economic Forum was held on Wednesday at the initiative of the Tunisia-Africa Business Council, in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

TunisianMonitorOnline

 

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