An agreement to extend the project to strengthen the clean production program in Tunisia was signed Thursday in Tunis by Environment Minister, Mrs. Memia Benna Zayani, Swiss ambassador in Tunisia, Pierre Coubernous, and the representative the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Tunisia, Mrs. Monica Carco.
The project, which was initiated in December 2010 and sealed in January 2011, aims to strengthen the competitiveness of Tunisian businesses through the development of the clean approach through better management of their resources and environmental performance in key sectors.
The initial budget of the project, which would last three years, with 25 per cent of the amount provided by Tunisia, is 1.6 million. This agreement covers the increase in the initial amount of the project with an additional 1.6 million. The duration of the project will run now until December 2014 instead of 2013.
The Tunisian side will also pay 25 per cent of this funding increase.
Mrs. Amel Jrad, Executive Director of the International Centre for Environmental Technologies of Tunis (CITET) said in a statement to TAP news agency that the agreement focuses on key sectors, namely tourism, food processing, textiles and clothing, leather and footwear, chemical, and mechanical and electrical industries.
UNIDO is involved as management structure of the project and its implementation will be provided by CITET in partnership with sectoral technical centers of the Ministry of Industry, the National Office of Tunisian Tourism (ONTT), the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) and the Tunisian Hotel Federation (FTH).
