Egypt has reaffirmed its desire to consolidate relations with Tunisia in the coming period by strengthening cooperation in the economic and commercial fields, especially in light of the great interest shown by the leaders of both countries in strengthening bilateral cooperation in the coming period.
This was stated by Bassem Hassan, Ambassador to Tunisia, during his meeting with Samir Abid, Minister of Trade and Export Development.
According to the Middle East News Agency (MENA), the two parties expressed their desire to intensify cooperation in order to increase the volume of trade between the two countries.
They also stressed the importance of joint coordination to make the most of regional cooperation frameworks, in addition to trade agreements and accumulation of origin.
The importance of using these agreements to boost exports and ease pressure on the balance of payments was underlined.
The two sides stressed the need for joint action to overcome barriers to market access for exports from both countries.
They also discussed ways of coordinating customs policies and overcoming non-tariff barriers, activating the agreement to establish a direct shipping line between the two countries, and encouraging the private sector to launch joint investment projects in promising sectors.
The Tunisian minister and the Egyptian diplomat also stressed the importance of intensifying meetings between senior officials of the two countries as part of the preparations for the meeting of the Egyptian-Tunisian Trade and Industry Commission and the next meeting of the Joint High Commission and its preparatory meetings.
These meetings aim to develop bilateral relations in 2025 in light of the fruitful partnership and close relations between the peoples of the two countries.
Strategic partnership
This meeting follows on from a previous Tunisian-Egyptian meeting, which provided an opportunity to reaffirm the shared desire to promote bilateral cooperation to the level of a strategic partnership.
The two parties also considered it important to strengthen communication at various levels, to hold bilateral meetings and the implement recommendations of the last meeting of the Joint Commission in Tunis, to consolidate economic cooperation and to increase trade and investment.
They also underlined the importance of coordination and consultation on various regional and international issues of common interest.
On the economic front, and particularly in terms of trade, Tunisia’s imports amounted to 703 million dinars, compared with 146 million dinars in exports. This 50% drop in trade is due to the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tunisia’s main exports are phosphate derivatives, digital equipment, petroleum products, copper wire, household appliances and olive oil. Its main imports from Egypt are fuel, textiles, ready-made clothing, agricultural and food products and cleaning products.
