Five documents, between agreements and memorandums of understanding, were signed this Sunday between Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, during the work of the 12th session of the Tunisian-Saudi joint commission, held in Riyadh on December 28 and 29.
The Tunisian delegation participating in this session is led by the Minister of Economy and Planning, Samir Abdelhafidh, on the instructions of the President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed.
In a statement to the Tap Agency, the minister stressed that this session constitutes “a new step in the signing of agreements intended to strengthen the legal framework governing relations between the Republic of Tunisia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Main agreements signed
The signed documents relate in particular to:
- an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters;
- a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the postal sector;
- a memorandum of understanding in the mining sector between the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines and the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources;
- a memorandum of understanding in the field of radio and television between Tunisian public establishments and the Saudi Broadcasting Authority;
- an executive program of cooperation and exchange of information between the Tunis Afrique Presse Agency (Tap) and the Saudi Press Agency (Spa).
Samir Abdelhafidh also indicated that an agreement had been reached to continue the procedures with a view to signing other agreements, adding that a meeting between representatives of the private sector of the two countries is planned on the sidelines of this session.
He insisted on the desire, through the joint commissions, to bring together economic actors from the Tunisian and Saudi private sectors, who expressed their willingness to deepen trade and economic relations in general.
“Our role as a public authority is to prepare the ground so that the private sector can exploit all available opportunities”he said.
A favorable context for trade and investment
The minister also expressed the recognition of the participants in the work of this session for the efforts made by the leaders of the two countries, President Kaïs Saïed, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with a view to further developing bilateral relations in the common interest of the two peoples.
For his part, the Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, who chairs his country’s delegation, considered that the holding of this commission constitutes an important opportunity to strengthen trade, economic and investment cooperation, particularly in the context of Saudi Vision 2030.
He underlined the desire to further strengthen trade, reporting an increase of more than 38% in the volume of trade over the past year, reflecting, according to him, the effectiveness of the commission’s work. He also emphasized the importance of developing joint investments in order to ensure the sustainability of projects.
The two ministers also supervise the work of the Tunisian-Saudi Economic Forum, organized on the sidelines of the session by UTICA and the Federation of Saudi Chambers. This forum will offer investors and businessmen from both countries the opportunity to examine partnership prospects, strengthen exchanges and discover investment opportunities in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia through bilateral meetings and sectoral presentations.
S.H
