Bulgaria and Tunisia step up their cooperation

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia Khemaies Jhinaoui visited BCCI last week. The Minister was in our country on an official two-day visit at the invitation of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria Ekaterina Zaharieva. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is the first visit to Bulgaria of a Tunisian foreign minister for 23 years.

The President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tsvetan Simeonov welcomed the first diplomat of Tunisia together with the Ambassador of the African country accredited to Bulgaria - H.E. Mr. Seyf Allah Rejeb and associates from the two ministries.

Simeonov informed the Minister about the cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tunisia, which develops in line with the challenges of time. According to the President of BCCI, the Memorandum of Understanding between the two chambers will be updated. He presented BCCI as a predictable partner for every Bulgarian government, whose main goals include: preservation of the low levels of corporate taxes, preservation of the budget surplus, improvement of the characteristics of the financial system in the country.

Minister Jhinaoui pointed out that his country has undergone many changes. The purpose of his visit was to restore the economic ties with Bulgaria and the cooperation in the private sector. He announced that he expected a session of the Joint Economic Commission, which has not met since 2010, to be called as soon as possible, and a bilateral business forum to be organized in order to encourage contacts with Tunisian companies.

President Simeonov and Ambassador Rejeb agreed to organize an event at BCCI to present the new aspects of the economic development of Tunisia. BCCI undertook to participate actively in the preparation of follow-up business forums and initiatives in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tunisia.

Tsvetan Simeonov said that in accordance with the priorities of the current bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Tunisia, emphasis must be placed on communication, urgent investment, student exchange, import of workers, and cooperation in the sectors: construction, IT, agriculture, engineering, tourism, etc.