Reported industrial investments posted a significant increase of 21% in the first five months 2016, reaching 1,429.6 million Tunisian dinars (MTD), according to statistics released by the Ministry of Industry.
The department said “despite the economic and social difficulties that characterized the beginning of 2016, at the national and international levels, the industrial sector in Tunisia has managed to preserve its role in boosting investment and exports”.
They are especially reported investments in mechanical and electrical industries which recorded a rise by 120%, to 351.1 MTD, following the reported extension of a totally-exporting aeronautics unit worth 67.6 MTD and a second plane-structure manufacturing unit (35.6 MTD), the creation of a totally-exporting foundry (25 MTD) and extension of a surface treatment unit (14 MTD).
Besides, reported investments in the food industry have increased by 51.1% to 555 MTD, after recording investment intentions in several projects like tomatoe conservation, soft drinks, pasta, milk and dairy products, etc.
Reported investment in the chemical industries sector grew 4.7% to 117.6 MTD, after the reported creation of a pharmaceutical production unit (9.8 MTD) and the extension of a gas production unit (7.7 MTD).
However, investment intentions dropped in the textile and clothing industries by 42.9% to 55.4 MTD and by 58.5% to 5.4 MTD in the leather and footwear industries as well as in the building materials sector (-23.5% to 173 MTD).
As regard foreign direct investment, the industry sector attracted 176 MTD by the end of April, up by 4.6% compared with 2015, the double of investments registered during the same period in 2014 (84.3 MTD).
Industry contributed by means of 91% to the domestic commodity exports, as industrial exports reached 10.685 MTD, in slight rise of 1.2% compared with 2015 and this inspite of the fall by 47.1% in the food industry exports, due to the drop in olive oil exports.
This rise is due to the increase by 8.2% to 5.158 MTD in the exports of mechanical and electrical industries, notably the export of transformers, cables and spare parts.
The same upward tendency for the textile-clothing exports +3.7%, thanks to the rise of external sales of cloth and ready-made and those of leather and footwear (+7.2%).
The exports of chemical industry also rose 43.4% with the increase in phosphoric acid sales by 192% and ammonium diphosphate and the super triphosphate by 87% and the growth in the export of concentrated aromatic oils and perfumes by 24.1% and various industries like plastics, furniture and others by 16.2%.
