Year: 2017

MEBAA Looks To Launch Tunisia Conference

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The Middle East Business Association (MEBAA) is exploring the possibility of launching a conference in Tunisia next year. Speaking to AIN from Morocco, where he is putting the final touches on the MEBAA Conference to take place in Marrakech from September 11 to 13, MEBAA executive chairman Ali Alnaqbi said April is the likeliest month for the event to be staged. He said he visited Tunisia on the way to Morocco and would stop by there again on his way back to Europe. “We agreed to activate the airport in Tunis for business aviation, and will…

Artist celebrates Paris in Arabic calligraphy

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An award-winning Franco-Tunisian artist has told Anadolu Agency that using Arabic language and culture in his work has helped him “reconnect” with his French identity. Thirty-five-year-old eL Seed — born to Tunisian parents in Paris — is the joint winner of the 2017 UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture. Blending Arabic and French themes in paintings, prints and sculptures, he aims, through his “contemporary approach… to bring people, cultures and generations together”. The artist spoke to Anadolu Agency this week at a new exhibition about his love for the French capital, where the…

Tunisia-Tourism: 500,000 French expected this summer

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Reservations of foreign tourists for Tunisia, “have multiplied by three compared to last year. Tunisia is (therefore) the destination which records the largest increase according to the Federation of Travel Companies.” This was reported by French channel BFMTV on Saturday. According to the same source, “tour operator TUI has almost 40% more tourists compared to 2016 in its clubs in Djerba or Monastir” and they are “nearly 500.000 French who should cross the Mediterranean this summer to Tunisia “.  The information, if confirmed, would signal a massive return of the…

Tunisia’s SONEDE secures $328 million for Sfax seawater desal project

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Tunisia’s national water utility SONEDE has secured a loan of JPY 36.7 billion ($328 million) from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to build a seawater desalination plant at Sfax. The money is for a 100,000 m3d/d facility, for construction, procurement and installation of water transportation pipes, and for consultation services including bidding assistance and construction supervision. A tender announcement of the initial procurement package for international competitive bidding on project construction is scheduled for August 2017, and a letter of invitation for consulting services including construction supervision will come in…

Tunisia: food imports rise almost 30%

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Tunisia’s trade balance of food products registered a deficit of TND 728.5 million (USD 295 million) in H1, nearly double the amount registered in the same period of last year, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries made available this Tuesday (18) by news agency Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP). The result amounted to 9.7% of the country’s overall deficit in the first six months of 2017. Tunisian exports increased 12% in the period but imports rose even more, 29.8%. Imports totaled TND 2.31 billion (USD 935.5…

United States To End Laptop Ban

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After months of speculation and rumors, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has officially lifted its ban on passengers carrying electronics larger than a smartphone onboard airplanes. After government officials visited Saudi Arabian Airlines’ main hub in Jeddah, the TSA announced it no longer will restrict passengers on this last carrier on its ban list. Officials will then visit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh later this week to confirm compliance there, as well. The news brings an end to a saga that started in March when the Department of Homeland Security officially…

Paestum Tourism Bourse launches cooperation with Tunis

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The organizers of the Mediterranean Bourse of Archaeological Tourism in Paestum travelled to Tunisia to work with a group of experts on the development of agreements on cultural cooperation with the North African country. The director of BMTA, Ugo Picarelli, met in Tunisia with the minister of tourism and craft, Selma Elloum Rekik, and the minister of cultural affairs, Mohamed Zine al Abidine, at the invite of Tunisian ambassador to Italy, Moez Sinaoui: at the center of talks were possible cooperation initiatives with the Bourse that every year in Paestum…

China calls for political settlement in Libyan crisis

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China is willing to make joint efforts with regional partners to seek a political settlement in the Libyan crisis, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday. Wang made the remarks after talks with visiting Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui. Libya’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected and maintained, Wang said. “China is committed to a political settlement of the crisis,” said Wang, identifying that Libya’s future should be held by its people and all parties in Libya should resolve disagreement through dialogue and negotiation. Wang emphasized the necessity…

Civil Society gets a say at EU-Africa Forum

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Tunisia has just hosted the Africa-EU Civil Society Forum, as part of a strategy both continents agreed on in 2007. The aim is to boost cooperation in ways that bring citizens direct benefits. And civil society gets a say – that’s particularly true in Tunisia. “We know Tunisian civil society played an important role in the democratic transition,” Iyad Dahmani, Tunisian Minister for relations with parliament, told Euronews. “Today the government continues to work hard to support civil society. We believe that the choice Tunisia made reinforces the image of a…

Austerity threatens 200 Tunisian travel agencies

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Austerity measures may cause 200 Tunisian travel agencies to suspend their activity, according to Mohamed Ali Al-Toumi, president of the Tunisian Association of Travel Agents. Al-Toumi said in a press conference held in Tunis that the government’s restrictions on foreign exchanges have caused difficulties for tourism and travel agencies in terms of booking tickets and hotels abroad for Tunisian tourists. Al-Toumi added that “there is a real threat against 200 travel agencies and their partners abroad. This is caused by the fact that the agencies commitments exceed the limits imposed  by…