Tunisia and France signed on October 5, 2017, a series of agreements worth a total of €92.3 million ($108 million), to boost their cooperation in multiple areas, Xinhua reported. 

Eleven overall, the agreements were signed on the sidelines of the first meeting of the high council for the Tunisia-France cooperation. At the meeting were present Tunisia’s Prime Minister, Youssef Chahed, and his French counterpart, Edouard Philippe. 

The facilities mainly fall in the framework of partnerships in the finance, investment, renewable energy, agriculture, education telecommunications, scientific research and professional training sectors. 

Among all the signed agreements, the most important, which amounts to €62 million ($72.5 million), aims to promote investment in/modernization of the Tunisian agricultural sector. This financing comprises a sovereign loan of €60 million and a subsidy of €2 million. 

Edouard Philippe lauded the reforms initiated by the Northern African nation, to improve its business environment while committing more French investments to Tunisia, in the years to come. 

Fiacre E. Kakpo