British Gas and Yazaki Plants Will Not Shut Down in Tunisia

Rumors about the Yazaki group and British Gas shutting down their plants in Tunisia have been formally denied by officials during a meeting with interim prime minister Hamadi Jebali, yesterday, January 3rd in Kasbah.

Sami Skander, the vice president of British Gas in North Africa, Middle East and Asia, stated that despite the hardships the company faced due to strikes during the past few weeks, the company will not shut down in Tunisia. “We will continue our pursuit in discovering more and better opportunities in Tunisia,” he added.

Skander confirmed that Prime Minister Jebali expressed support to the company and enthusiasm about encouraging foreign investment in Tunisia. He added that British Gas’s main role is to provide natural gas for Tunisia, not to create jobs.

Since 1995, British Gas has invested 3.7 million dollars in Tunisia. It provides the country with 60% of its natural gas, and employs over 1,000 workers.

Rudolph Horst, head of Yazaki Europe, met with Prime Minister Jebali in his Kasbah office yesterday as well. He confirmed that Yazaki will not leave Tunisia, and will rather continue investing in the country as per their 2012 plans.

The Minister of Industry and Commerce Mohamed Lamine Chakhari, who also attended the meeting, stated that Yazaki’s main focus will be on the Gafsa plant’s activities and that the Om Larayes plant will remain closed until security conditions improve. Yazaki representatives said that the Om Larayes production unit will ensure that some workers are transferred to the Gafsa plant until then.

Montassar Othmani, an engineer at the Yazaki Gafsa plant, said that since the Gafsa production unit is relatively new, shutting down could cause significant losses. “We will have a meeting within the next few days to discuss Yazaki’s current situation. However, it may not be feasible to transfer workers from the Om Larayes plant to Gafsa, as projects, technical skills, and machines are significantly different.”

The Yazaki group provides about 1,500 jobs in Tunisia, which is less than their goal of providing 3,000 jobs by 2011.