Kais Saied President of Tunisia will make a working and friendly visit to France on June 22-23 at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
He will be accompanied during this visit by Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Finance Noureddine Erray and Mohamed Nizar Yaich, respectively.
President Saïed will visit the Elysée Palace on June 22 for an extended meeting between the Tunisian and French delegations, followed by a private meeting between the Head of State and his French counterpart.
Following this meeting, the two Presidents will hold a press briefing.
A state dinner hosted by the French President in honour of President Saied and the accompanying delegation is also scheduled for Monday evening.
During the 2nd day of the visit, Saïed will give an interview to Le Monde newspaper at the Tunisian residence. This interview will be followed by a visit to the Arab World Institute and a meeting with the Tunisian Community in France.
This visit, the first to a European country since the election of President Saïed last October, takes place amidst intensified contacts at the highest level between the two sides, particularly at a time when Tunisia and France sit together on the United Nations Security Council.
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It will offer an opportunity to discuss the state of and prospects for cooperation between the two countries, preparations for the Francophonie Summit (scheduled for 2021 in Tunisia) and regional and international issues of joint interest.
The two Presidents will also discuss the health and socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, as well as post-pandemic recovery plans.
The Saïed-Macron meeting will also be an opportunity to review the situation of the Tunisian community in France, which counts about 1 million people, and discuss the facilitation of the mobility of Tunisians, particularly students, researchers and businessmen, to France.
France is Tunisia’s leading economic partner with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of more than 4 billion dinars in 2019. Despite the Covid-19 crisis, trade between the two countries exceeded 6 billion dinars during the first five months of 2020, with over 3.5 billion dinars of Tunisian exports to France.
There are about 1,500 French companies operating in Tunisia, employing 143,416 persons, i.e. a third of the jobs created by foreign companies.
The French authorities announced a financial commitment of €1.7 billion to Tunisia for the period 2016-2022, or €250-300 million a year.
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The Tunisian-French partnership in the fields of culture and innovation experienced a qualitative leap in recent years, with particular attention paid to training, twinning, exchange of expertise and technical assistance.
In addition, the conclusion of several partnership, cooperation and twinning agreements between towns, governorates and regions has helped bring the two countries’ peoples closer together.
