Ministry of Commerce and Export Development Announces Finalization of Free Trade Agreement with Qatar
The Ministry of Commerce and Export Development has announced that the free trade agreement with Qatar has been finalized after two days of meetings with Qatari officials on August 26 and 27. This is one of the main objectives of the ministry's program for 2024.
In the first seven months of 2024, our exports have not exceeded 42 million Tunisian dinars (Mtnd) compared to imports of 26.7 Mtnd. This is very low, which means there is an opportunity to be seized in a market with a significant Tunisian population and high purchasing power, in addition to other nationalities. This should theoretically be in our favor, pending the impact of such an agreement.
The ministry's work program includes other projects, notably the continuation of negotiations to sign preferential trade agreements with Indonesia and Pakistan. These two countries are considered regional economic powers and markets with great potential, but our respective exports are only 29.3 and 12.1 Mtnd in the first half of 2024.
Orienting towards Asia is a good strategy. These are markets with a significant population and good purchasing power. We think it's better than Africa in terms of logistics and speed of execution. We have the example of the Zlecaf. Tunisia is the most advanced country and is doing everything to give the effective kick-off to this important treaty. However, the pace is not being sustained by other countries. In the meantime, we have found other destinations, and that's what we need to do.
