Tunisia - Prime Minister Kamal Madouri met, on Monday, at the Government Palace in Kasbah, Ousmane Diène, Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, Regional Director for the Maghreb and Malta, along with their accompanying delegation.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted the foundations of President Kais Saied’s development approach, which focuses on achieving sustainable and inclusive development.

He emphasised the state’s commitment to creating the conditions and requirements for economic takeoff, particularly by improving the business climate, enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector to create decent jobs, and providing opportunities for productive investment.

He was also quoted as stressing in a Prime Ministry statement the importance of fostering an enabling environment for investment projects, especially in promising sectors such as renewable energy, innovation, and technology.

Additionally, he underscored the need to strengthen citizens’ socio-economic rights by improving the quality of services in vital sectors like health, education, transportation, and social protection, based on a fair development approach that ensures equitable wealth distribution and equal opportunities.

This includes building resilient economic institutions capable of withstanding global changes, alongside structural reforms aimed at enhancing governance, efficiency, and the performance of public institutions and enterprises.

These reforms also aim to achieve energy sovereignty, improve water management systems, drive development, create jobs, and expand social protection coverage.

The Prime Minister affirmed the depth and distinction of the cooperative relationship between Tunisia and the World Bank Group, which has supported and accompanied several structural reforms and development projects across various sectors.

He noted that Tunisia looks forward to strengthening this strategic partnership with the financial institution to achieve economic takeoff by financing structural projects targeting priority sectors, thereby injecting sustainable dynamism into local and regional development in the medium and long term.

In the same context, he highlighted Tunisia’s commitment to economic and structural reforms, including public institution modernisation, infrastructure development, and enhancing the national economy’s openness to external markets.

This is being achieved through the revision of investment legislation and systems, as well as the digitisation of services, which contribute to creating a positive economic dynamic that stimulates wealth creation.

He also emphasised the importance of the World Bank’s support in implementing these reforms, strengthening the capacities of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and supporting promising projects in various sectors such as energy, water, health, education, waste valorisation, digitisation, and the modernisation of transportation and logistics services.

The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of supporting Tunisia in implementing its new approach to development planning and policies. This involves empowering regional, local, and district councils to play a central role in discussing and proposing development priorities and projects within national development plans, thereby enhancing citizen participation and engagement in the development process.

For his part, Mr. Ousmane Diène, Vice President of the World Bank for the MENA region, reiterated the World Bank Group’s readiness to continue supporting Tunisia’s efforts and aligning its assistance with the country’s development programmes and structural reforms planned for the next phase, in line with its priorities.

He commended the progress made in various fields and sectors since his last visit on December 10, 2024, and expressed the Bank’s commitment to supporting investment projects and exploring opportunities to expand cooperation in priority national areas such as energy, water, waste management, strengthening the financial capacities of MSMEs and startups, and digitisation.

He also expressed the World Bank’s readiness to support renewable energy production projects and the importance of technology transfer within partnership frameworks for Tunisia, as well as the development of a national industry in this field.

Additionally, he emphasised the need to enhance port and logistics services and optimise Tunisia’s potential in this area.

He praised the importance of building development policies and programmes based on principles that ensure active and effective participation of regions and guarantee citizen engagement as key stakeholders through their representation in regional, local, and district councils.

These councils will deliberate on development priorities and projects, ensuring the success of Tunisia’s new development policy, which aims to achieve economic and social integration and reduce regional disparities.

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