Bahrain investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) is in advanced talks with Tunisian government to develop its flagship project in the country, Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH), which will be North Africa’s first offshore financial centre.
A high profile delegation from GFH led by acting CEO Hisham Alrayes and Lutfi Alzaar, the CEO of Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH) met Tunisian Minister of Investment and International Co-operation Riadh Bettaieb had met recently to review progress and discuss plans forward for TFH.
During the meeting, Bettaieb reiterated his support for TFH, and expressed the government of Tunisia’s commitment to ensuring development of the project according to the plan, side by side with GFH.
“The expected benefits of TFH are extraordinary for Tunisia, GFH and our investors. We are very much committed to seeing the project through and thereby realize the returns for the country and our investors,” said Alrayes.
“TFH, with its unique location overlooking the Mediterranean, will become an unparalleled destination for both business and leisure travellers,” he added.
The GFH chief pointed out that Tunisia offered investors high potential for growth, government support, attractive investment terms, security, proximity to Europe, an educated population, a beautiful climate and well maintained public infrastructure.
“I see Tunisia becoming the leading financial and business centre in North Africa once the development of TFH gets completed,” stated Alrayes.
During the visit, the delegation also met a number of contractors and developers in Tunisia and discussed plans for progressing the development and construction of the key buildings .
The team specifically discussed the development strategy for TFH, and the plan to focus initially on completing work on the retail district, golf course, show (sample) villas and residential units, following with a marketing campaign to attract interest from both outside and within Tunisia.
The project, said to be North Africa’s very first offshore financial centre, will focus on attracting local, regional and international banks and financial institutions, as well as leading regional Islamic banks and Islamic Investment Funds to the region.
The project will offer world class commercial infrastructure, an array of modern waterfront living and hi-tech office space for financial institutions seeking access to the opportunities Tunisia offers, as a strategic gateway between Europe and Africa.
