Tunisian official commends Qatari investments

Director-General of the Tunisia''s Agency for Promotion of Foreign Investment Noureddine Zekri has commended Cooperation between the State of Qatar and Tunisia in the field of investment .. He said it reflected the strength of relations between the two countries. Responding to a question by the correspondent of the Qatar News Agency (QNA) in Tunisia, during a press conference held here Friday, Zekri referred to memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during the visit of HH the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to Tunisia last month on the occasion of celebrating the first anniversary of the Revolution of January 14. He said that these MoUs covered a range of investment projects in the fields of tourism, oil refining, extending Gas network, the environment protection and other fields. He added that after the revolution, Tunisia has become of interest to investors from countries such as the United States, Britain, the Gulf States and Scandinavia. Reviewing the foreign investment in Tunisia, Zeri said the volume of foreign investments in Tunisia record last year decreased by 2.29 percent to one billion and 3.711 million dinars compared to 2 billion and 7.417 million dinars in 2010. He said that the business climate in Tunisia has improved over the recent period and the number of institutions reported difficulties and shrinking base of foreign investors in Tunisia have expanded after the Revolution because of international sympathy with the democratic transition in the country. He said that the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency is looking to attract foreign investment this year 2012 value of 2400 million dinars, adding that the agency will launch this year promotional campaign abroad to introduce the features and differential investment incentives to domestic destinations in Tunisia. France is the most important foreign investor in Tunisia by (1259 institutions) followed by Italy (745 institutions), Germany (266 institutions), Belgium (208 institutions ), the Arab countries (220 institutions ) and Asian countries (23 institutions).(QNA) AK