15 investment projects (costing over 15MD) worth TND2,231.1 million were reported to the Tunisian Investment Authority (TIA) in the 1st semester of 2022, up 280% in terms of investment. The increase is due to the reporting of a cement plant project with a substantial investment cost of TND 950 million in March 2022.
Excluding this investment operation, the reported investments up to May 2022 increased by 118%, according to the TIA data as of June 30.
The reported investments are expected to generate 4,295 jobs.
These investments are divided between 9 projects of Creation (64%) worth TND834.01 million and 3,016 new jobs and 5 extension projects (36%) worth TND447.88 million and 979 new jobs.
The volume of investments generated by the creation operations is clearly higher than that of the extension operations, which indicates a positive sign in relation to the nature of the reported investments.
The reported investment projects cover the sectors of industry (7 projects worth TND500.77 million and 3,021 new), agriculture (1 project worth TND51.4 million and 103 new jobs), renewable energy (2 projects worth TND315.84 million and 68 new jobs), services (3 projects worth TND319.09 million and 603 new jobs) and tourism (1 project of TND94 million and 200 new jobs).
A more detailed analysis of the reported industrial investments reveals large shares of projects in the Mechanical and Electrical Industries (61%) followed by the Food Industries sector (35%).
On the other hand, the Mechanical Industries sector has the largest share (88%) in terms of job creation.
Out of all the reported projects, 6 projects operate under the totally exporting regime with a global investment of TND 379.32 million with expected 2,838 new jobs and 8 projects are reported under the non-total exporting regime with an investment cost of TND901.78 million and expected 1,157 new jobs.
The 14 reported investment projects cover 12 governorates. 21% of which are located in the local development zones worth TND382.66 million with expected 702 new jobs, i.e. 18% of the total number of jobs to be created.
Among the investment projects reported to the TIA during the first 6 months of 2022, 09 projects include a foreign participation for an investment cost of TND 970.5 million, i.e. 71% of the reported investments (3,323 new jobs).
The Projects of National Interest (PIN: Investment cost >=TND50 million or Jobs >=500) account for 64% of the number of reported projects with an overall investment volume of TND 1,041.33 million, i.e. 81% of the overall reported investments. These projects are expected to generate 3,519 jobs, i.e. 88% of the total number of reported jobs.
