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Thursday, 20 August 2015
TUNIS, (TAP) - The House of People's Representatives (HPR) will adopt at the beginning of October, 2015 a set of economic bills, including the investment code, said Minister of Communication Technology and Digital Economy Noomen Fehri.
Speaking at the economic forum of Tunisian expatriates held Thursday in Gammarth (northern suburbs), the minister pointed out that the government hopes to see the HPR adopt the law on public-private partnership and the tax reform bill.
Tunisians living abroad who took part in this forum noted the absence of laws encouraging investment and boosting export, besides slow administrative procedures.
The government seeks, through this meeting held by the Office of Tunisians Abroad (OTE) to build relations with Tunisians abroad and help them invest in their native country.
The number of Tunisian expatriates exceeds one million. They have provided remittances of nearly 5 billion dinars over the recent years, i.e. 5% of the GDP.
New technologies are among the promising sectors open to investment of Tunisians abroad. They will provide nearly 80 thousand jobs in the next five years, 50 thousand jobs of which could be created by Tunisian expatriates, according to Fehri.
The minister added that nearly 32 thousand young people in Tunisia invest in digital services for foreign companies in the field of digital content industry, not to mention the services rendered by call centres.
The government relies heavily on Tunisians abroad as part of the 2016-2020 development strategy by encouraging them to invest in digital economy, green economy and social economy.
Fehri said he strongly backs the idea of liberalisation of the Tunisian dinar from 2017 which will help Tunisian expatriates increase their investment in Tunisia.
The forum, attended by 200 Tunisian expatriates, discussed several issues related to the role of the Tunisians abroad in boosting development and ways to increase their contribution to investment and export.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2015
