Qatari Prince begins 2-day visit to Tunisia

Sheikh Tamim Ben Hamad Ben Khalifa Al-Thani, the Crown Prince of Qatar, began a two-day visit to Tunisia today to sign a number of  previously arranged investment agreements between Qatar and Tunisia. According to the press attache of the Tunisian Office of the Presidency, the visit will consist of a series of meetings with high-level government officials, including Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, and head of the Constituent Assembly Mustapha Ben Jaafar. The prince will also visit the Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, headed by Samir Dilou. Ben Hamad is expected to sign-off on a number of anticipated development projects to be implemented in Tunisia. These initiatives include the construction of housing units in the city of Omar al-Mukhtar, located west of Tunis, and a tourist resort in Douz, which was allocated a budget of $80 million. Ben Hamad will also sign a two-billion USD project to build an oil refinery in Skhira, Sfax. Construction will commence by the end of this year, while production is projected to begin by 2014. The facility aims at refining 250 barrels of oil a day.