17 September 2016
The new Investment Act, adopted on Saturday September 17, 2016 by the House of People's Representatives (HPR) with 114 votes for, 4 against and 16 abstentions will enter into force from January 1, 2017.

This law has a total of 36 articles after the HPR approved a proposal to add a 7th chapter of 11 articles entitled "transitional and final provisions".

Speaking on the sidelines of the plenary during which the Investment Law was passed, Minister of Development, Investment and International Co-operation Mohamed Fadhel Abdelkefi stressed the need to apply this law to meet urgent needs in terms of employment and investment, particularly foreign.

"Tunisia's position has deteriorated and we can no longer negotiate with investors the environmental, tourism or other impacts of their projects, because of the urgent need of the country for investment and employment, he said in this regard.

He added that his department is now focusing on a study of a project proposed by a foreign investor with a budget estimated at EUR 650 million (about 1,600 million dinars). Once implemented, the project will help create 55,000 new jobs, he noted.

© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2016