GAMMARTH, Tunisia, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Tunisia is seeking
foreign investors for $6.82 billion worth of infrastructure and
development projects, as the government tries to prop up its
faltering economy.
"We have a 22 projects in many sectors, including energy, tourism, transport and infrastructure which we will propose to foreign investors present in Tunisia", said Nidhal Ouerfelli, Tunisia's secretary for economy affair. They include projects for the construction of dams and port in the city of Ennfidha.
Tunisia will hold its second free election next month, three years after expelling an autocratic regime. Its exercise in democracy is being praised as a model of political compromise in an unstable region.
But a successful transition to democracy depends on
stability and economic recovery, Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa told
an investment conference on Monday. The government cut its forecast for economic growth for the
third time this year on Thursday, from 3 percent to between 2.3
and 2.5 percent.
Its budget deficit is set to reach 8 percent of gross
domestic product this year, mostly because of wage costs for
public workers and subsidies left over from the rule of ousted
leader Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.
($1 = 1.7607 Tunisian dinars) (Reporting By Tarek Amara; Editing by Larry King)
((tarek.amara@thomsonreuters.com;))
Keywords: TUNISIA INVESTMENT
"We have a 22 projects in many sectors, including energy, tourism, transport and infrastructure which we will propose to foreign investors present in Tunisia", said Nidhal Ouerfelli, Tunisia's secretary for economy affair. They include projects for the construction of dams and port in the city of Ennfidha.
Tunisia will hold its second free election next month, three years after expelling an autocratic regime. Its exercise in democracy is being praised as a model of political compromise in an unstable region.
Keywords: TUNISIA INVESTMENT
