Day: May 27, 2024

Tunis: The weather Monday is a bit cloudy in most regions then partly cloudy in the afternoon in the north and the midland.

The wind is blowing east, light to moderate, growing strong near northern coasts. The sea is a bit choppy and locally choppy in Cap Serrat regions.

Highs range between 25°C and 30°C in coastal regions and heights and 31°C et 36°C elsewhere.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Companies specialising in production and export of dates and by-products are called to submit their applications to take part in the “Exporti” programme before June 14.

Implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation GIZ -Tunisia, in partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, “Exporti” programme provides tailor-made support for companies to help them boost their exports to European Union (EU) markets.

This programme falls under the PACE-AMIT component (support to the modernisation of the Tunisian industry) of the Qualitative Growth for Employment (QGE) project. The project is funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ Tunisia said on Monday.

The programme also provides for training sessions by international and national experts on the requirements of European markets.

Prospection and networking events to connect with potential European buyers are scheduled.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Tunindex closed Monday’s session up 1.2% to 9,486.3 points with a modest volume of TND 5 million, according to broker Tunisie Valeurs.

Ciment de Bizerte shares were the best performers after rising by 3% to TND 0.680.

BIAT shares also performed well rising by 2.6% to TND 97, generating a capital of TND 582,000.

Tawasol Group Holding shares fell by 4.3% to TND 0.660, trading for only TND 39,000.

Délice Holding shares also dropped by 0.5% to TND 11.840, trading for TND 375,000.

Carthage Cement shares were the most sought after. The stock price rose 0.5% to TND 1.960, feeding the market with a capital of TND 1.1 million.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The roadmap on blue economy and the Coastline without Plastic strategy were devised, with the support of the World Bank, to meet the challenges and priorities set by Tunisia and the United Nations, said Minister of Environment Leila Chikhaoui.

Both are premised on a wealth and job-generating economy which guarantees environmental balance and social inclusion of target populations.

The minister was speaking Monday at a workship in Tunis on the theme: ” Launch of Synthesis Document of the Roadmap on Blue Economy and the Coastline without Plastic Strategy.”

She said the aim is to face up a triple environmental crisis triggered by climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution.

The operational roadmap sets up 11 areas of priority investment, 31 long-term objectives and 35 priority actions. These areas cover mainly tourism (spa tourism, ecotourism…), fisheries and aquaculture and the fight against plastic pollution.

The implementation of priority actions, the minister said, will be funded by the St
ate budget and the contribution of the private sector and technical and financial parteners, as was the case for the pilot project of Kerkennah ecological transition

which would facilitate the implementation of the blue economy roadmap and the afore-mentioned strategy.

Tunisia has undertaken since 2019/20, as part of cooperation with the WB, to draw up the blue economy strategy which revolves around the protection of the maritime and coastal space so as to foster sustainable economic growth, said Director General of Environnement and Quality of Life at the Ministry of Environment Hédi Chebili.

A participatory approach was embraced involving all ministries, civil society and the private sector, he further said. The strategy is expected to be implemented immediately by all stakeholders.

Alexandre Arrobbio, the WB Resident Representative in Tunisia, said blue economy shows significant potential for the country wit a 14% contribution to the GDP and 500,000 jobs, including 13% for spa tourism.

The two strateg
ies will help invest in economic development and environment risk management, he said. The bank is ready to support Tunisia which had already requsted technical support.

Director of Quality of Life at the Ministry of Environment Awatef Messai said the Coastline without Plastic strategy helped define five strategic objectives, namely governance, financing, plastic waste management, innovation and research and awareness; this in addition to operational objectives. The strategy, she said, includes 68 measures and 34 with projects, including 17 priority ones.

Pilot actions mainly include reduced usage of plastic in hotels, putting nets in streams to minimise the movement of plastic to the sea, doing away with illegal dumps and selective waste sorting.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Temperatures on Monday night will be between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius, according to a bulletin from the National Institute of Meteorology (INM).

The weather will be partly cloudy.

Winds will be light to moderate, blowing from the south on the central and eastern coasts and from the east in most other regions.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Prime Minister, Ahmed Hachani had a meeting, Monday, at the Kasbah Palace, with President of the Gas, Renewables and Power (GRP) and a Total Executive Committee member, Stéphane Michel and General Manager of the Austrian electricity group «Verbund», Franz Helm.

During the meeting, the PM spoke of the importance of the memorandum of understanding signed, Monday, between the government, the French group “Total Energies” and the Austrian group “Verbund”. The document aims at launching the production project of green hydrogen (H 2V), from Tunisia and export it to Europe by pipeline.

He expressed Tunisia’s support for this project which seeks to promote the energy transition in Tunisia, foster investment and boost the national economy, adding that the production of renewable energies remains a strategic national choice amid the climate change.

President of the GPR emphasized the expertise by his group enjoys in Africa and the Middle East, adding that Tunisia has a number of advantages, mainly a qualified
workforce, its climate and geographical proximity to Europe,»

«Tunisia could play a pioneering role in the sector of renewable energy,» he pointed out.

Verbund Managing Director, Franz Helm, underlined that a memorandum of understanding will consolidate the energy transition in Tunisia, affirming that «this will help Tunisia become among the key suppliers of green hydrogen to Europe.»

Tunisia signed, on Monday, a memorandum of understanding with the French group “TotalEnergies” and the Austrian group “Verbund” to carry out the project for the production of green hydrogen (H 2V) from Tunisia and export it to Europe by pipeline.

This project to produce green hydrogen (H 2V), from Tunisia and export it to Europe by pipeline, aims to produce in its first phase 200,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen as well as install approximately 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy and 2,000 megawatts of electrolysis technology.

It is expected that the production capacity will reach one million tonnes per year, with the
installation of 25 gigawatts of renewable energy, with an investment amounting to 6 billion euros (approximately 19.8 billion dinars ) for the first phase and 40 billion euros (132 billion dinars) for the final phase by 2050.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Tunisian-Swiss cooperation to implement the Paris Climate Agreement and combat climate change was officially launched on Monday during a ceremony organised by the Ministry of Environment at the Tunis International Centre for Environmental Technologies (CITET).

It is part of the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement signed between Tunisia and Switzerland in December 2023. That bilateral agreement aims to raise the level of ambition of the two countries’ respective climate change commitments and constitutes the legal basis for taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the cooperative approaches between countries, as defined in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

This cooperation will accelerate the implementation of the two countries’ respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and promote green investments in Tunisia.

While stressing the importance of such cooperation, Minister of Environment Leila Chikhaoui pointed out that Tunisia’s updated NDC aims to reduce its carbon inten
sity by 45% by 2030 compared to 2010.

She also noted that Tunisia is one of the Mediterranean countries most affected by polluting emissions, although it only contributes 0.07%.

For his part, Swiss ambassador to Tunisia, Josef Renggli, underlined his country’s willingness to invest in green projects in Tunisia in order to limit the impact of CO2 emissions and support efforts to combat climate change.

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international agreement on climate change. It was adopted by 196 parties at COP 21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, on December 12, 2015. It entered into force on November 4, 2016.

Its overall objective is to ‘hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels’ and to ‘pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.’

Article 6 of the agreement allows countries to enter into ‘voluntary cooperation’ with other countries to achieve their respective national climat
e goals.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani on behalf of President Kais Saied on Monday, discussed a draft law on the financing of the state budget and a draft decree regulating the tax privileges of Tunisians living abroad.

The draft law concerns the approval of the financing agreement signed on May 16, 2024 between the Tunisian state and a group of local banks to finance the state budget by mobilising a foreign currency loan to meet the financing needs provided for in the 2024 Finance Law, according to a statement issued by the Prime Ministry.

The draft decree “regulates tax privileges for Tunisians living abroad and the conditions and procedures for granting them”.

The proposed draft decree comes within the framework of establishing the conditions and procedures for the application of Article 24 of Law No. 13 of 11 December 2023. This article allows Tunisians living abroad to benefit, once every ten years, from a total or partial exemption from the payment of customs duties and fe
es when importing or acquiring on the local market a motorcycle, a passenger car or a car for professional use, including off-road vehicles with a gross weight not exceeding three and a half tonnes, according to the draft decree.

The proposed draft decree also includes provisions to harmonise with the amendments to the Customs Code and Decree No. 197 of 23 January 1995 on the regulation of tax privileges for Tunisians abroad, in order to make it easier for Tunisians abroad to benefit from these privileges.

It also includes hybrid vehicles and vehicles that run exclusively on electricity among the types of vehicles covered by the exemption, in line with technological developments that use alternative and clean energy and in response to requests from Tunisians abroad.

At the opening of the meeting, the Prime Minister welcomed the new members of the government and stressed the need for harmony in the carrying out government work and coordination between the various ministries.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique P
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