Alistair Burt, British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, visited the Tunisian-British Chamber of Commerce on Monday, April 9, 2018, in Tunis.
Minister Alistair Burt was accompanied by a large delegation with H.M.A. Louise De Sousa, Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Tunisia, and several representatives of the British Foreign Office (FCO) and the Department of International Trade (DIT).
Minister Burt was welcomed by the President of the Tunisian-British Chamber of Commerce, Mehdi Ben Abdallah, who was accompanied by members of the Board of Directors, Nourredine Hajji, Abdessalem Loued, Samira Zouari, Ali Hjaiej, Riadh Badr and Jed Mrabet.
This visit, a first for a British Minister of State to visit the offices of the Tunisian-British Chamber of Commerce, was a great opportunity to discuss during a working meeting the development of the Tunisian-British economic relations.
The meeting allowed to discuss the achievements of the Chamber since the last visit of the Minister in August 2017 and the program of activities for 2018 and 2019. The two delegations also discussed the opportunities related to Brexit, and they deepened the analysis in the various sectors of interest to be developed, such as education, entrepreneurship, new technologies, agribusiness, health, energy, finance and tourism.
The importance of Tunisia as an African hub was also raised, and discussions were engaged on the role of Tunisia in the tripartite relationship with the United Kingdom to develop economic relations with Sub-Saharan countries and Libya.
The meeting highlighted a strong mutual motivation to work together to strengthen trade and investment relations between Tunisia and Britain. Both sides committed to make every effort to create in 2018 and 2019 the appropriate events that will allow to bring the respective business communities together and generate concrete opportunities for the private sector, which is a key driver for the Tunisian economy.
Minister Alistair Burt praised the role of the Tunisian-British Chamber of Commerce and the communicative energy deployed by the President of the Chamber, Mehdi Ben Abdallah, and all the members of the Board of Directors. A follow-up program was discussed with an upcoming visit by Minister Alistair Burt accompanied by a multi-sectoral delegation of British entrepreneurs.
