Project of opening of a Tunisian branch of the Observatory to develop coproduction in Tunisia
On 28 January 2016, in Gammarth, Tunisia, IPEMED and the Tunisian Deposit and Consignment Office organised a high-level seminar in order to present the first recommendations found by the study of the Coproduction Observatory dedicated to Tunisia which will be completed in March 2016. It was also the opportunity to evoke next steps for the development of a Tunisian branch of the Mediterranean Coproduction Observatory.
A seminar hosting Tunisian political and economic senior officials
The seminar was chaired by Zied LADHARI, Minister of Employment and Professional Training, and François GOUYETTE, French Ambassador in Tunisia. It gathered several leading Tunisian political and economic policy makers, among which Chedly AYARI, Governor of the Central Bank, Jaloul AYED, former Minister of Finance and President of MedConfederation, Jamel BELHAJ, General Director of the Tunisian DCO, Tarak CHERIF, President of CONECT, Souhir TAKTAK, President of BFPME, or Ahmed BOUZGUENDA, President of IACE.
Relevant observations and recommendations of the study dedicated to Tunisia
The participants highlighted the relevance of the first observations and recommendations of the Observatory study on Tunisia, presented by Michel GONNET, IPEMED expert. Indeed, following the lead of IPEMED, the participants insisted on obstacles to national and foreign investment: difficult currency outflows, inadequate infrastructures and training, cost of logistics. Besides, Minister Zied LADHARI and several participants identified several times the sectors targeted in the study as major sectors in Tunisia.
The project to create a Tunisian branch of the Observatory well under way
All the participants agreed on the fact that this study was a solid work foundation for the Tunisian branch of the Mediterranean Coproduction Observatory which will aim at:
- Deeply analysing the behaviour of foreign investors and leading industries for coproduction in each country;
- Favouring the development of coproduction partnerships between both shores of the Mediterranean.
This seminar was the occasion to get the support of major actors for this project:
- The Minister of Employment and Professional Training, Zied LADHARI, confirmed that he would do his best to facilitate the branch creation;
- The Tunisian DCO, through its General Director Jamel BELHAJ, confirmed its will to financially support the project:
- Noureddine HAJJI, General Director of E&Y Tunisie, expressed his interest in the project and his will to be part of it;
- Several organisations, such and IACE and CONECT, and some companies, among which Hikma and Leoni, expressed their interest for such a profitable approach for Tunisia.
On 5 February 2016, Tunisia launched a Franco-Tunisian colocation Fund of €20 million in partnership with the Tunisian DCO and Bpifrance. The country, which made of coproduction a priority for its economic development, will host the first local branch of the Mediterranean Coproduction Observatory, which should be operational at the end of the first quarter of 2016.