Tunisia’s reported investments in the industrial sector fell 2.6% in the first seven months of 2012, reaching 1,924.8 million dinars (MTD), compared with the 1976.2 MTD of the same period last year.
The number of declared projects amounted to 2,506, during the first seven months of 2012, against 2,276 projects in the same period of 2011, i.e., a rise by 10.1%, reads the July
2012 issue of the Agency for Promotion of Industry and Innovation (APII) newsletter.
According to the same source, these projects will generate 43,828 jobs, compared with 50,165 jobs created in the first seven months of 2011, down 12.6%.
Reported investments in the leather and footwear industry posted a rise of 372.4% in the first seven months of 2012, amounting to 41.1 MTD against 8.7 MTD during the same period of 2011, notably due to the decision of the extension of a totally exporting footwear plant worth 28.9 MTD with a 100% foreign capital.
The sector of diverse industries rose by 50.1% with 503.3 MTD intended investments, during the seven first months of the current year, compared with 335.4 MTD in the same period of 2011, following the creation of a totally exporting production unit of used tyres recycling worth 196.2 MTD, by means of a joint capital.
The food industry sector posted a rise by 3% with reported investments amounting to 528.2 MTD, against 512.6 MTD recorded in the first seven months of 2011.
APII accounts for this progress as resulting from the intended creation of a totally exporting plant of tomato-puree worth 18 MTD and that of the extension of a livestock food manufacturing unit worth 16.3 MTD.
The building materials, ceramics and glass sectors went up by 1.2%, with declared investments worth 296.3 MTD compared to 292.7 MTD recorded in the first seven months of 2011, after the intended creation of a brick plant worth 43 MTD by means
of a joint capital.
Decline of investments involved the sectors of chemical industries, i.e., a drop by 41.8% (121.6 MTD against 209 MTD in 2011), mechanical and electrical industries with a fall of 30.9% (342.9 MTD against 496.3 MTD in 2011), and the textile-clothing industries which dropped by 24.8%, going thus from 121.5 MTD to 91.4 MTD in the first seven months of this year.
