Organizing Tunisian Economic Days in the Catania Region, Sicily

Within the framework of the activation of economic diplomacy, the Tunisian Consulate in Palermo organized on May 31, 2024 in the province of Catania, Sicily, an Economic Day entitled “Food Industry: Investment Opportunities and Trade Exchange between Tunisia and Sicily,” under the supervision of the Tunisian Embassy in Italy and with the participation of representatives of the Chambers of Commerce of Southeast Sicily (Catania, Ragusa and Siracusa), the Tunisian Citizens’ Enterprise Federation (CONECT) and the Tunisian-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CTICI), the Milan Export Promotion Center (CEPEX) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA).

The Ambassador of Tunisia to Italy, Mr. Mourad Bourahla, together with the President of the Sicilian Regional Council, Mr. Gaetano GALVAGNO, supervised the opening of the day, attended by about (60) Italian businessmen from the agricultural and food industry sectors.

In his speech, the Ambassador appreciated the efforts of all Tunisian parties to organize this economic event in Sicily, Tunisia has important investment potential and broad business opportunities in the food industry. He also spoke about the reality of the good relations between Tunisia and Italy, which are steadily developing in all fields, pointed out the need to take advantage of the geographical proximity of our countries to strengthen trade exchanges, and said that Tunisia will be an ambitious Italian “Matthai Plan” to finance development projects in Africa.

The President of the Regional Council of Sicily praised the role of the economic and cultural events organized to provide an opportunity to meet and support Tunisian-Italian relations in general and Tunisian-Sicilian relations in particular, noting that they are ready with the Regional Council and the institutions of the Sicilian Regional Government to provide all support for the development of cooperative relations in all areas.

In this context, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and its Secretary General, in their speeches, expressed the importance of this economic event as an opportunity to present the advantages of the Tunisian investment climate and to introduce Italian businessmen in Sicily to the wealth of available capacities and important investment opportunities in the food industry sector in Tunisia.

The Secretary General of the aforementioned Chamber of Commerce conveyed to the Tunisian Ambassador to Italy a written message from the Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Italian Government, Mr. Adolphe Urso, in which he praised the solidity of the relations between the two countries, which are constantly strengthening due to the frequent exchanges of visits between senior officials of the two countries.

During this Economic Day, the participants from the Tunisian side (the President of the Tunisian Citizens’ Enterprise Union (CONECT), the President of the Tunisian-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CTICI) and representatives of the Export Promotion Center (CEPEX) and the Milan Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA)) delivered presentations (Powerpoint) focusing mainly on the reality of economic relations between Tunisia and Italy in various sectors, especially in the agricultural and food industry, mainly reflected in the increase in the number of Italian companies operating in Tunisia (about 977 Italian companies provide 80,000 jobs), pointing out the advantages offered by our country in the context of encouraging the attraction of foreign investment, including tax and employment opportunities. Customs exemptions, geographical proximity, low costs of sea, ocean and air transport compared to most Asian countries, as well as the efficiency and low cost of Tunisian labor, have contributed to the increase in the volume of Italian investment and commercial exchanges between Tunisia and Italy, especially joint projects between the two countries, such as the electricity interconnection project (ELMED), as well as the importance of benefiting from our country’s participation in African economic blocs such as the Eastern and Southern Common Market of Africa (COMESA) and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ZLECAF).

The seminar summarized the successful experiences of some Italian businessmen investing in Tunisia and proposed the establishment of a direct flight route between Catania and Tunisia, which will help promote business exchanges and the development of Tunisia as a tourist destination and attract investments, as the Catania province is an important industrial, economic and tourist pole.

The event ended with a display of some Tunisian food products (sweets, olive oil, canned tomatoes, figs and dates) and a brochure promoting Tunisia as a tourist and investment destination.

As part of the proposals emanating from the demonstration, the two sides agreed to organize visits of Italian businessmen to Tunisia by the end of 2024 to hold bilateral (B2B) meetings with their Tunisian counterparts.