Tunisia - A guarantee agreement for a loan of US$15 million (TND 47 million) to the Tunisian Investment Fund was inked on October 23 in Washington by Economy and Planning Minister Samir Abdelhafidh and Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) Chairman and Director General Bader Mohammad Al-Sa'ad.

The agreement was signed within the framework of a set of meetings held between Abdelhafidh and officials from international financial institutions, on the sidelines of his participation in the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) on October 21-26 in Washington.

The minister also held a talk with Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser. The meeting turned on the furtherance of IsDB-funded projects and cooperation programmes for the coming period.

In this respect, Al Jasser voiced the bank's willingness to continue supporting Tunisia in implementing its priority development projects in various fields, notably health and energy.

The minister also had a meeting with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso.

The two officials reviewed the various financial and technical cooperation projects underway and programmes for the coming period in a number of sectors, including phosphate, transport and the business climate.

A working session was also held with African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Senior Vice President Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade who commended the gradual improvement in Tunisia's macroeconomic indicators, reaffirming the AfDB's commitment to continue supporting national efforts for a comprehensive and sustainable development.

Another meeting involved the minister with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator Andrew Plitt. The talk helped discuss ways to boost cooperation, especially in economic empowerment of vulnerable groups and female farm workers.

Abdelhafid also chaired a working session with World Bank experts in support for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Fostering cooperation between Tunisia and the World Bank in this field, given the importance of this category of business in the country's economic fabric was discussed during this meeting.

A meeting was also held at the seat of the Tunisian embassy in Washington between the minister, the delegation accompanying him and representatives of international financial institutions and American investors as well as representatives of the Tunisian community living in the United States.

The minister highlighted the reforms undertaken by the Tunisian government to improve the business and investment climate and comparative advantages offered by Tunisia for investment projects in various sectors, mainly those with a high technological content.

He also took part in a ministerial conference organised by the World Bank with the aim of examining countries' proposals for improving the implementation of WB-funded projects and guaranteeing their impact on development.

To this end, he put forward a set of proposals, including closer cooperation in preparing prjects, the provision of technical expertise in the form of grants and a more effective contribution in terms of training and capacity-building to ensure optimum project implementation.

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