Industry and Trade Minister Zied Ladhari called for an Arab-African computer network that includes economic and trade data on opportunities for partnership, economic complementarity and identification of means of cooperation in mutual interest fields in Arab and the African countries.

He added that Arab-African cooperation was one of the priorities of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) programme held on February 22 and 23, 2017 in Rabat (Morocco) that Arab-African cooperation is one of the priorities of Tunisia’s foreign policy because of the historical, geographical and cultural relations that connect the country with its Arab, Maghreb and African environment.

The Minister also said that Tunisia has renewed its contacts with the African regional economic communities, such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

The objective is to revitalize the negotiation process on the possibility of concluding trade agreements with these groups and deepen its integration within the African space.

As regards trade between Tunisia and sub-Saharan African countries, the Minister stressed that, despite continuous growth, trade remains below the means available and the targets set by the national unity Government.

He added that trade can be developed through initiatives materialised at the national and regional levels.

Laadhari highlighted Tunisia's interest in expanding the base of trade and diplomatic representation in Africa and in achieving the benefits and incentives for Tunisian companies to get them established on the African markets, pointing out that negotiations are going on at the regional level with a view to carrying out a free trade area.

The forum organised by Morocco and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) group, aims to strengthen the volume of trade flows between Arab and African countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region stemming from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The forum also aims to present products and financing solutions to better encourage and finance trade and ensure exports in addition to developing programmes to boost trade capacity

source: TAP