Tunisia Investment Forum Promotes Emerging Business Opportunities

The Tunisia Investment Forum, organized by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) in Gammarth, took place between June 14 and 15. The forum was launched to address both Tunisia’s new business opportunities and the country’s urgent challenges.

The forum kicked off with an opening ceremony, during which Hichem Elloumi, chairman of the Tunisia Investment Forum, Rintaro Tamaki, deputy secretary‐general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and various other influential business officials emphasized the importance of attracting international funding, especially after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution.

The second day of the forum consisted of conferences centered around the opportunities generated by the Tunisian revolution, the economic challenges currently facing the country and how to promote public-private partnership within the country.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Ridha Bettaib, and various other government officials met with international investors from the private sector to discuss opportunities for investment in the emerging sectors in the country. They also addressed methods to set up an administrative and juridical framework which would position Tunisia as a niche of investments in the Mediterranean zone.

International figures present at the forum did not miss the opportunity to emphasize their willingness to support and to encourage economic prosperity in Tunisia. “Our group is ready and willing to assist Tunisia in this transitional period to break through and to realize its high potential,” declared Abdel Rahman Taha, CEO of ICIEC, an international insurance company affiliated with the Islamic Bank of Development (BID).

The forum was also an occasion for Tunisian businessmen to meet with their international counterparts to discuss opportunities for cooperation, especially in emerging fields like energy, telecommunications, and finance.

Mandated to provide the support required by foreign investors to promote foreign investment in Tunisia, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, (FIPA-Tunisia) is a public structure created in 1995. The organization conducted the first edition of the Tunisia Investment Forum last year, in 2011.