IPEMED: easing visa obtaining for businessmen

Jean-Louis Guigou, Delegate General of the Institute of Economic Forecasting for the Mediterranean World (IPEMED), called for easing the obtaining of visas for Europe for Tunisian businessmen so as to "boost economic activity" between Tunisia and the European countries. Addressing on Wednesday the first conference of the Tunisian-European task force, he described as ''humiliating'' the procedures Tunisian businessmen must go through to obtain a visa. Moreover, Guigou urged the European commission to finance promotional campaigns in Europe to incite businessmen and enterprises to invest in Tunisia. "These campaigns should be held in the native language of each European country and could have as a slogan "Come and invest safely in Tunisia," he suggested. He also proposed to set up a guarantee fund to encourage the creation of small and medium enterprises in Tunisia, pointing out that Tunisian banks "require from national promoters wishing to set up this kind of enterprises many guarantees while they are in most cases, unable to provide them". The vocational training enjoyed by numerous Tunisian youths, he said," does not meet the requirements of the job market," reckoning that "the European Union is able to assist Tunisia in this field". Guigou also urged the EU to draw inspiration, in order to assist Tunisia, from Germany's experience in Eastern Europe countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall. "The German plants have relocated in Eastern and Central Europe countries and have contributed to the development of these countries' economies," he reminded, saying that this successful experience could be beneficial for Tunisia. One of the missions of IPEMED is to endeavour to "achieve economic rapprochement between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean," the European official declared.