Tunisia’s Foreign Direct Investment Drops 14.2%

A man walks towards the Central Bank in Tunis (Reuters)
A man walks towards the Central Bank in Tunis (Reuters)
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Tunisia’s Foreign Direct Investment Drops 14.2%

A man walks towards the Central Bank in Tunis (Reuters)
A man walks towards the Central Bank in Tunis (Reuters)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in Tunisia dropped 14.2 percent during the first half of 2020 compared to same period last year, and during the first three months of the current year the decline was 24.1 percent.

The foreign investments stood at about DT1.1 billion by the end of H1 2020, showing a downward trend over the past two years.

A significant decline was seen in FDI of service sector with 50.8 percent, and industry sector and energy with foreign direct investments dropped 13.3 percent and nine percent, respectively. However, agricultural investment saw an 18 percent increase.

The Tunisian Investment Authority announced that the local market had received 34 projects until the end of July, which means the number of projects has doubled compared to the same period last year, creating about 9,086 job opportunities.

The Tunisian economy shrank 21.6 percent by the end of the second quarter of 2020, which led the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, to call upon the government to activate the state of emergency to salvage the economy.

The Tunisian Ministry of Finance had published statistical data on the results of the 2020 budget.

During H1 of 2020, direct tax revenues fell by 11.4 percent, corporate tax dropped 18.7 percent, and income performance also declined by 4.6 percent.

A decline in customs was recorded by 12.9 percent, performance on value added tax decreased 15.5 percent, and consumption declined by 8.3 percent.

As a result of the decline in the state's resources, the government resorted to borrowing, which it hopes would support its resources, amounting to about DT7.2 billion out of the DT11.2 billion allocated in the Finance Law for the year 2020.



Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Japan are close to unveiling a higher partnership council that will be headed by the countries’ leaderships in line with efforts to build a partnership that bolsters the technical transformation and joint research in clean energy, communications and other areas, revealed Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two countries will soon open a new chapter in their sophisticated strategic partnership.

The new council will be chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to push forward the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030, he added.

The council will elevate cooperation between the countries and pave the way for broader dialogue and consultations in various fields to bolster political, defense, economic, cultural and sports cooperation, he explained.

The two parties will work on critical technological partnerships that will focus on assessing and developing technologies to benefit from them, Binzagr said. They will also focus on the economy these technologies can create and in turn, the new jobs they will generate.

These jobs can be inside Saudi Arabia or abroad and provide employers with the opportunity to develop the sectors they are specialized in, he added.

Binzagr said Saudi Arabia and Japan will mark 70s years of relations in 2025, coinciding with the launch of Expo 2025 in Osaka in which the Kingdom will have a major presence.

Relations have been based on energy security and trade exchange with Japan’s need for oil. Now, according to Saudi Vision 2030, they can be based on renewable energy and the post-oil phase, remarked the ambassador.

Several opportunities are available in both countries in the cultural, sports and technical fields, he noted.

Both sides agree that improving clean energy and a sustainable environment cannot take place at the expense of a strong economy or quality of life, but through partnership between their countries to influence the global economy, he explained.

"For the next phase, we are keen on consolidating the concept of sustainable partnerships between the two countries in various fields so that this partnership can last for generations,” Binzagr stressed.

“I believe these old partnerships will last for decades and centuries to come,” he remarked.

Moreover, he noted that the oil sector was the cornerstone of the partnership and it will now shift to petrochemicals and the development of the petrochemical industry.