Tunisian Minister for Development, Investment, and International Cooperation Zied Ladhari has announced that preparations are underway for the Tunis Investment Forum (TIF) due on June 20-21.
In a statement to the media, he said a number of global economic cities reiterated their support to the economic reforms carried out by Tunisia and showed interest in being introduced to available investment opportunities in various activities in the economy.
The minister had toured a number of European countries to brief officials on TIF.
He showcased investment prospects in Tunisia and held talks with Italian, German and French officials on possible means to boost investment in the country.
He, further, offered the climate and features of investment in Tunisia, as well as reforms adopted to attract more foreign investments and support its image as a promising investment destination.
A number of economic experts are concerned that Tunisia would again make the same pledges it made during the Tunisia 2020 Conference held in November 2016. At the time, it offered 64 projects, 34 of which were public-private partnerships, at a cost of no less than TND67 billion (around USD22 billion).
Several countries pledged to invest in these projects, which were proposed by the government to major investors and international funds. Many of the projects, however, never materialized.
Economic and financial expert Saad Boumakhla said that agreements may be signed during the upcoming conference, but moving towards the execution phase demands preparing a suitable investment environment and overcoming several obstacles, such as difficulty in accessing internal regions.
