Tunisia Country Day Introduces the Investment and Cooperation Opportunities in Tunisia

• 25.09.2018
• News

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) organized an event titled 'Tunisia Country Day and Cooperation Opportunities' to introduce the investment and cooperation opportunities in Tunisia, one of the economically developing countries of North Africa. A lot of industrialists and business people looking for business opportunities both in the region and Tunisia had attended the event hosted by ICI Vice Chairman Irfan Özhamaratlı to assess the investable lines of business in Tunisia. 

Özhamaratlı, who made the opening speech of the event, reminded the strong political economical, cultural and personal bonds between Türkiye and Tunisia dating back to old days. Özhamaratlı stated that organizing and strengthening the cooperation and dialog mechanisms between these two countries will contribute greatly to the relations between Türkiye and Tunisia.

Mentioning the reflection of close political dialogs and friendly relations to reciprocal top-level visits, Özhamaratlı stated that a joint will was put forward to improve the relations between two countries with the official Tunisia visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on December 26-27, 2017. Özhamaratlı attracted attention to the agreements signed between two countries regarding Military Financial Cooperation and Reciprocal Investment Incentives within this framework.

ICI Vice Chairman
Irfan Özhamaratlı

Underlining the significance of improving trade relations with Tunisia in the foreign trade strategy of Türkiye, Özhamaratlı defined the Tunisian market as very important for them, too. Recording that 1.12 billion USD 2017 bilateral trade volume between Türkiye-Tunisia is way below its real potential, Özhamaratlı stated that there are almost 65 Turkish companies established by Turkish business people in Tunisia to engage in manufacturing and trade. Özhamaratlı said that the total value of their investments is 500 million dollars and this figure reaches up to 1 billion dollars together with joint investments.

Listing the areas that Turkish companies invested in as airport construction and management, duty free store management in various airports, cement plant construction, plastic recycling, automobile spare parts, textile and ready-to-wear, white meat production, PVC materials production, aluminum pot production etc., Özhamaratlı added that tourism had also improved between Türkiye and Tunisia, given that 17 thousand Turkish citizens visited Tunisia and 111 thousand Tunisian citizens visited Türkiye in 2017.

Tunisian Ambassador to Ankara
Mohamed Faycal Ben Mustapha

Mohamed Faycal Ben Mustapha, Tunisian Ambassador to Ankara, said that the relations between Türkiye and Tunisia maintained their strength since they are built on mutual respect and cooperation. Showing the similarity between Turkish and Tunisian flag as an evidence to the close relations between two societies, Mustapha stated that a very strong foundation was laid for the improvement of the relations between two countries with the "development of Tunisia means development of Türkiye" statement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his visit to Tunisia in December 2017.

Reminding the support of Türkiye to the democratic revolution of Tunisia in 2011, Mustapha stated that the country is serving as a bridge between Europe and Africa. Mustapha continued by naming Tunisia as an entrance gate to Africa with its human resources and investment environment, and added that they have the required qualities for this role. Saying that Türkiye is one of the top 20 economies of the world and two countries have numerous common interests, Mustapha told that an investment law had been issued to improve the investment environment and to facilitate the bureaucratic processes in Tunisia. Mustapha invited business people to invest in Tunisia.

Turkish Ministry of Trade, Export
Development Expert Tarhan Sezgin

Tarhan Sezgin, who made a speech at the 'Cooperation and Investment Opportunities in Tunisian Market' titled panel, provided detailed information regarding Tunisia and Tunisian economy. Recording that the country that has a population of 11 million grew 1.9 percent in 2017, Sezgin added that they reached an export volume of 14 billion dollars and import volume of 19.2 billion dollars within the same year. Sezgin underlined the fact that Tunisia has the most diverse economy, the best living standards and the highest qualified workforce in Africa. Sezgin mentioned that Tunisia is an important supplier in the field of olive oil besides being important in agriculture and fishing, and recorded that 8 million tourists are being expected in 2018. According to Sezgin, the country that is the largest raw phosphate producer of the world receives its most foreign investment from France, Germany and UK.

Tunisia Investment Authority
President Khalil Laabidi

Khalil Laabidi, President of Tunisia Investment Authority, took the stage at the same panel to provide information regarding the investment environment in Tunisia. Mentioning the close relations between two countries, Laabidi said that they feel as if they are in Tunisia when they come to Türkiye and did not feel like a stranger at all. Underlining the strong industrial culture of Tunisia despite of being known only as a tourism country, Laabidi told that 52.2 percent of the foreign investments are to industry. Describing Tunisia as a gateway to Africa, Laabidi said that they have free trade agreements with EU, Arab countries and Türkiye, enabling them to reach 800 million consumers.

Türk Eximbank International Trade
Financing Expert Sinem Pozantı

Following these speeches, Sinem Pozantı, International Trade Financing Expert of Türk Eximbank, informed the panel attendants about the buyer's credits offered by Türk Eximbank to exporters. Later, another panel titled "Experiences of Turkish Companies in Tunisian Market" was held and moderated by ICI Deputy Secretary General Mehmet Dolgan. During this panel, Alper Soylu - Assistant General Manager of GAMA Power Systems Engineering and Contracting, Dr. Metin Ercan - Board Member of Işkaya, Mehmet Ali Deniz - Director of Global Investment Holding and Bora Yılmaz - Board Member of Dost Construction, Project and Industry talked about the business and investment opportunities in Tunisia. The speakers continued by answering the questions directed by the audience.