Tunisia: 14.8 Percent Investment Increase in Industrial Sector

Tunisia announced that investments in the industrial sector grew by 14.8 percent during the first nine months of the current year to 2,754.2 million dinars (MD) against 2,398.1 MD, during the same period in 2011.

The number of investment projects totaled 3,032 (against 2,896 the previous year), recording an increase of 4.7 percent, reported l’Agence de promotion de l’industrie et de l’innovation (APII) in its latest newsletter.

Despite the increase in their number, the new projects will only create 53,194 jobs compared to 62,242 jobs in 2011, i.e. a decrease of 14.5 percent.

The leather and footwear sector recorded the highest increase, posting a 336.7 percent rise during the first 9 months of 2012, with investments amounting to 44.9 MD, compared to 10.3 MD in 2011.

The food industry progressed by 81.1 percent with investments amounting to 1,136.5 MD (against 627.7 MD in 2011).

Investments in other various industries increased by 42 percent to 555.1 MD, against 390.9 MTD the previous year.

Investments in the textile and clothing sector recorded a slight increase of 4.2 percent (154.8 MD against 148.5 MTD).

According to the newsletter, several other sectors have however recorded negative results during the same period, such as the industries of building materials, ceramics and glass which declined by 11.6 percent, the mechanical and electrical industries which decreased by 36.3 percent and chemical industries which recorded a drop of 38.5 percent.