Year: 2017

Tunisia says to allow foreign currency accounts locally

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Tunisia’s government will allow Tunisians to hold foreign currency accounts locally and introduce an amnesty for illegal foreign currency trading as it tries to boost foreign reserves, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said on Monday. Chahed told parliament that the government planned to reduce its budget deficit to 3 percent by 2020 and expected growth of 5 percent that year according to its new economic plan. Officials expect a deficit of 6 percent this year. Reuters

Central Mediterranean situation: UNHCR calls for an additional 40,000 resettlement places

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UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, called today for an additional 40,000 resettlement places to be made available for refugees located in 15 priority countries* along the Central Mediterranean route. “These 40,000 resettlement places, which will complement already existing commitments, will be crucial to help the most vulnerable refugees along the Central Mediterranean route. Of course, resettlement can only be one element of a more global response to increase access to protection and solutions for refugees and mitigate risks they face on their way to Libya and to Europe,” said Filippo…

Tunisia to halve deficit in three years – PM

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Tunisia’s government wants to halve its budget deficit and trim the public wage bill in the next three years as part of a reform package to revive the economy, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said on Monday. “We are preparing an economic plan to relaunch and salvage the Tunisian economy,” he told parliament five days after naming a cabinet including a new minister in charge of economic reforms. “This is needed to balance our finances.” Chahed said the government aimed to reduce the deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product…

Tunis protesters demand justice for Myanmar’s Rohingya

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Two separate demonstrations were held in the Tunisian capital on Friday to protest the ongoing persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State. The first demonstration, organized by Tunisia’s Current of Love movement (Tayar al-Mahaba), saw dozens of demonstrators waving banners decrying the Myanmar military’s ongoing crimes against Rohingya Muslims. Protest organizers distributed leaflets condemning Myanmar’s security forces for their ongoing persecution of the country’s Muslim minority. One of the leaflets called on the Tunisian government, along with “friendly countries”, to intervene to stop the oppression in Myanmar. A…

Tunisia, China have great potential in promoting tourism cooperation

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The Tunisia-China cooperation in promoting tourism has great potential as China is pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative, a senior Tunisian tourism official told Xinhua in a recent interview. The future of Tunisia’s tourism definitely rests with the Chinese market, said Leila Tekaia, manager of public relations and communication of Tunisian National Tourism Office. “Chinese outbound tourism market is incredibly important for Tunisia, as more and more Chinese are travelling abroad,” Tekaia said. “Within China’s proposed Belt and Road Initiative, we believe the number of Chinese tourists in Tunisia…

UK energy experts expected next week in Tunisian south

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A delegation of British energy experts is expected next week in Kebili to discuss with regional authorities how to set up a mega-station to produce electricity from solar energy, according to the Tunisian TAP news Agency. The delegation includes representatives of UK-based NUR Energy specialising in renewable energies plans to carry out an integrated solar energy project linking Tunisia’s sunny desert to European electricity markets, of a solar power plant on an area of 20 thousand hectares in Rjim Maatoug in the Tunisian South. The “TuNur” project was proposed by…

Myron International Clinic centre of multi-disciplinary surgery in Tunisia

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Tunisia has become the first country of multi-disciplinary surgery namely plastic surgery by its low prices and the competence of highly renowned surgeons who attract patients from all over the world. The Myron International Clinic, a newly born institute, occupies an important place among the leaders of surgical hospitalization nationwide and more generally worldwide. The Myron International clinic offers to the patients several areas of surgical intervention as well as a comprehensive care in the patients’ care paths while guaranteeing excellent services during their stays. Created in 2015, the Myron…

Russian astronaut captures Instagram image of Makkah from space

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It is quite common to take photos of your work if it involves travel, we all do it. But Russian astronaut Sergey Ryazanskiy has taken this to a whole new level sharing photos that are quite literally out of this world on his Instagram account. His collection of photos taken from space includes an image of Makkah at night. He captioned the stunning image: “The holiest place in the Islamic world. #Makkah is beautiful both day and night. Impossible to confuse it with any other city in the world even…

EBRD boosts trade in Tunisia

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is helping Tunisia expand international and intra-regional trade by providing a US$ 10 million trade finance line to Union Internationale de Banques (UIB), a subsidiary of SociĂ©tĂ© GĂ©nĂ©rale. The trade finance line will allow UIB to issue guarantees in favour of confirming banks and provide cash financing for pre-export and post-import financing as well as for local distribution, according to EBRD. Technical cooperation projects will accompany this trade finance facility, to transfer know-how and share best practices in trade finance. Antoine SallĂ©…

G20 Compact with Africa Finance Ministers call for African ownership of CWA

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Strong leadership, macro-economic stability, adequate infrastructure, entrepreneurial skills, tax reforms and African ownership of the Compact with Africa process were issues high on the agenda of Finance Ministers attending the first G-20 Compact with Africa meeting in Accra, Ghana, yesterday. The meeting, convened by Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, with technical support from the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), provided a platform for the finance ministers to discuss what role the G-20 Compact could play in the collective economic transformation agendas of Africa, as well as how to overcome…