Tunisia insists on the Japanese to revive its economy
The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VIII), held Friday and Saturday in the Tunisian capital, represents an important investment and diplomatic opportunity for Tunisians, whose financial and economic conditions worsened in a delicate international circumstance that threatens the African continent with hunger and the European continent with severe cold.
The Japanese Government launched the Tokyo International Development Conference (TICAD) in 1993 with the aim of accelerating political dialog between African actors and partners and meeting the challenges facing the continent.
TICAD is a multilateral conference bringing together international organizations, development partner countries, private institutions and civil society organizations concerned with development at the African continent level.
During the TICAD summit, the Japanese government allocated 7 billion US dollars to support value-added enterprises.
In February 2020, Tunisia received approval to host TICAD 8, which will be held on August 27 and 28. Around 5,000 participants from Japan and Africa will participate.
Preparations are underway in Tunisia to receive its Japanese and African guests, in an attempt to make up for last year’s failure to organize a conference of la Francophonie, which affected its regional and international reputation.
In October, the Organization of la Francophonie announced the postponement of its conference in Tunis “because of the health conditions Tunisia is going through as a result of the coronavirus pandemic”.
The real reasons for the postponement were political instability during the period when the bilateral polarization between Tunisian President Kais Saied and the former regime, led by Ennahda, reached its peak.
In a few hours, the Tunisian capital turned into a major workshop, according to which the form of the official airport in the capital will be changed. Public enlightenment networks were doubled, and gardens, public squares, bridges, and tunnels were decorated.
Prime Minister Najla Bouden and a number of ministers and officials conducted a shuttle tour that included a number of establishments and institutions, foremost among them Tunis Carthage International Airport and the Convention Palace in the capital, where the conference will be held.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that exceptional traffic measures were taken from Thursday through Sunday, including the closure of a number of main roads and the diversion of traffic by secondary roads. Parking lots in a number of streets in the capital were also banned.
On Tuesday evening, I visited Tunis to sign a number of cultural, sports and youth activities under the initiative of the Tunisian-Japanese Friendship Association and the supervision of the Japanese Embassy in Tunis.
During TICAD, 8 economic forums are organized with the participation of 300 Japanese, African and Tunisian companies, 10,000 international participants from private sector operators in Japan and Africa, in addition to dozens of parallel activities such as seminars and workshops in the economic, financial and scientific fields to look at ways to help the continent.
Economic analysts say that as much as the conference gives Tunisia the hope to revive its economy and restore investor confidence, Japan considers Tunisia a gateway to the African continent where competition with regional and international powers for investment in Africa is intensifying, such as Russia, China, Turkey and Israel.
The 82 projects presented at the Tokyo World Conference on African Development (TICAD) are expected to reach $2.7 billion in a number of areas, notably health, medicine, the automotive industry and renewable energy, said Tunisian-Japanese Chamber of Commerce head Hédi Abbès in a press statement on Friday.
