Year: 2017

Tunisia to lift retirement age by two years, official says

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The Tunisian government has reached a deal with a major labour union to lift the retirement age for public servants by two years, a government official said on Friday, a key reform demanded by its lenders to stabilize state finances. The North African country is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to speed up reforms and help its economy recover from militant attacks in 2015 that hurt its vital tourism industry. State social security funds suffer from a deficit of about $1 billion as the economy has been…

Migrants being auctioned off as slaves in Libya

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Sub-Saharan African migrants are being sold for as little as $400 in auction houses around Libya, a CNN undercover investigation has revealed. The American TV channel revealed the slave markets that have taken place around Libya including in western Libya, around the capital Tripoli and near the border with Tunisia but also in Ghadames, a town near the Algerian border. With hidden cameras the reporters travelled to Libya where they were able to watch a live auction of human beings. “Does anyone need a digger? He digs, he is a big strong man, he will dig,” a salesman…

Egypt: North Africa’s Foreign Ministers Issue ‘Cairo Declaration’ On Libya

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The foreign ministers of Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria issued a joint statement on the Libyan crisis called “The Cairo Declaration”, following their talks in Cairo on Wednesday 15/11/2017 . The statement is as follows : 1- Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with counterparts of Tunisia Khemaies Jhinaoui and Algeria Abdelkader Messahel for consultations on the developments of the situation in Libya and efforts to support inter-Libyan dialogue to reach a comprehensive solution to the Libyan crisis under the tripartite initiative of the three countries and to follow up the outcome…

Tunisia’s Q3 growth at 2.1 percent year-on year, same as Q3 last year

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Tunisia’s economic growth remained stable at 2.1 percent year-on-year in third quarter, the state statistics institute said on Thursday. The growth was also 2.1 percent in the third quarter last year. Figures from the statistics Institute showed that growth in the first nine months of 2017 was to 1.9 percent. Tunisia is targetting GDP growth of 3 percent next year compared with an expected 2.5 percent this year. It also aims to cut its budget deficit to 4.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, down from about 6 percent…

Information Day: ” Health, demographic change and wellbeing”

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Since its association with Horizon 2020 Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation) in 2016, Tunisia is multiplying its efforts to improve the participation of its Institutions in this Programme. To this purpose, a special Programme Management Unit Research and Innovation (PMURI), acting as Directorate-General, was created by decree n. 2016-955, at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR). As part of its mission, an Information Day covering SC1″ Health, demographic change and wellbeing” will be held on 18th November 2017. The event will bring together researchers…

Wall Street English franchise opens in Tunisia

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Mr. Alex Baker, Wall Street English representative, said that the training centre for apprenticeship of the English language will open today in Tunisia. Mr. Baker confirmed that the Wall Street English adventure began more than 44 years ago on a simple and innovative idea, teaching English by reproducing the same process that has helped to learn a mother tongue. Wall Street English now has more than 400 training centers in 27 countries, he told Express FM on Thursday morning. In this connection, he added that each year, more than 180,000…

European patents in Tunisia: Validation agreement between EPO and Tunisia to enter into force on 1 December

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The President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, and the Director-General of Tunisia’s National Standardisation and Industrial Property Institute (INNORPI), Amel Ben Farhat, announced today that starting 1 December European patents can be validated in Tunisia and thus regarded as national Tunisian ones. “This agreement brings significant advantages while improving the attractiveness of the Tunisian economy,” said EPO President Battistelli. “Companies and inventors from Europe and around the world will be able to easily extend the scope of their patent protection to Tunisia, which is a growing market. To…

GCF gives green light to largest climate project to date in EBRD partnership

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New joint programme spans three continents The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will start funding its largest climate finance investment to date following an agreement signed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The GCF-EBRD Sustainable Energy Financing Facilities programme spans three regions and directs new climate finance flows to Armenia, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Serbia, Tajikistan and Tunisia. The GCF is contributing USD 378 million to this USD 1.4 billion programme to support thousands of individual investments in technologies that reduce emissions and enhance resilience to climate change. Building on EBRD market studies and pilot financing…

World has racked up 7000 protectionist measures since crisis: study

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he world’s top 60 economies have adopted more than 7,000 protectionist trade measures on a net basis since the financial crisis and tariffs are now worth more than $400 billion, a study of global data showed on Wednesday. The research, which drew from World Bank, Heritage index and Global Trade Alert figures, also found that the United States and European Union were each responsible for more than 1,000 of the restrictions.  India was next with over 400 followed by Argentina, Russia and Japan all with between 365 and 275, while…

Holidaymakers’ paradise in Tunisia

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“Always look on the bright sight of life…” Almost everyone knows this famous scene from the film “Life of Brian”. But what many people don’t realise: Large parts of the film were shot in the Tunisian city of Monastir. Built as a fortress in the year 796, the town became a holy city and pilgrimage site for the religious. Today Monastir is an attractive holiday destination. Its location on the Gulf and beautiful sandy beaches invite you to swap the cold German winter for a few warm summer days. This…