On the eve of the International Investment Conference "Tunisia 2020", 146 projects are listed on the conference’s website.
These projects in some twenty economic sectors are divided between 68 public projects as part of the 2016-2020 development plan, 33 projects within the public-private partnership (PPP) and 45 private projects.
The public projects are listed first due to their importance and financial and socio-economic impact. Among these projects are the programme for the modernisation and reinforcement of roads within municipalities and the adaptation programme to climate change in Tunisia’s vulnerable rural areas.
Some of the public projects proposed as part of the conference, such as the seawater desalination plants in Sfax, Zarat and Kerkennah have already found donors.
Kerkennah’s plant will be funded by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Zarat’s plant by the KfW Development Bank and Sfax’s plant by Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).
Other less known projects as the creation of a production unit of food technical acid in Gabes or the Nafta-Tozeur phosphate field are also proposed.
Announced before 2011, some public projects are still looking for funding like the Enfidha deepwater port (1500MTD) or the Taparura project (1125 MTD).
According to the conference website, these projects should be achieved as part of PPP that can accelerate their achievement especially after the promulgation of the PPP contracts law in December 2015.
Some of the projects proposed in this framework do not lack originality as the creation of the smart Grid (smart electricity and gas network) with investments estimated at 1,500 MTD, the development of space industry around micro-satellite project (120 MTD) or the creation of the competitive cluster in Jinene, Beja (2,000 MTD).
The last two projects were proposed by Tunisian private investors (Telnet and Jinene. S. A).
Among other private projects are the agri-tourism projects in Beja, the Hatchery-Fry production project in Mahdia or the motor sports cities (197 MTD).
According to FIPA, foreign investments in Tunisia amounted to 2,365.9 MTD. The analysis of the countries of origin of these investments (except of energies) shows that most of the projects achieved in Tunisia were made by France with 170 projects amounting to 278.69 MTD followed by Italy with 109 projects valued at 76.061 MTD and then Germany with 32 projects amounting to 71.74 MTD.
The ranking of the largest investments always puts France in the first place, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Italy and Germany.
If the energy sector is taking into account, the ranking of foreign direct investment changes, putting the United Kingdom and Austria in the first places.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2016
