9th February 2018

Plans to be presented include a new deep-water port, a rapid rail network, and a £1bn road building programme

Date: Friday, 02 March 2018
Time: 1230
Venue: British Expertise International, 23 Grafton Street, London W1S 4EY

British Expertise International are hosting a lunch meeting with Her Excellency Mrs Louise de Sousa, British Ambassador to Tunisia, along with Mr Mehdi Ben Abdallah, President of the Tunisian British Chamber of Commerce for a joint event with ……

….. the Arab British Chamber of Commerce to hear about infrastructure and other commercial opportunities in Tunisia, including ports, rail, bridges, roads, desalination facilities and more.

The Ambassador will also highlight a planned British Minister-led bilateral forum which will take place between the UK and Tunisia in April 2018, and which presents an excellent opportunity for a British Trade Mission to join the Forum.

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In advance of the event, below are some of the recently announced key opportunities for the 2018-19 period along with other potential sectors of opportunity and a short background note.

PORTS – A new deep-water port worth £700m has been confirmed by the President of the Tunisian government. The plan is being finalised and companies should start positioning themselves with the Ministry for the execution of the project. Studies have already been conducted.

RAIL – A plan for a rapid rail network, RFR, is being put in place, the first line will be inaugurated in 2019. The second phase is planned to start soon and will initially focus on the update of studies conducted in 2009 when the project was conceived. The overall value of the first two lines is £400 million, the estimated value of the second phase is estimated to be triple that amount. There are plans to renew old rail lines and extend other rail networks in Tunisia, valued at hundreds of millions of pounds.

See below for links to some of the construction export articles and features available on this site

BRIDGES AND ROADS – The Tunisian government will issue a tender for the construction of a bridge in the northern city of Bizerte, worth £200 million. The Tunisian Ministry of Equipment, the lead in the Tunisian government on infrastructure projects, has been allocated more than £1bn for the construction of roads in the 2018 government budget. The execution of these projects usually goes to local companies but some of the calls for tenders are open to international bidders.

DESALINATION FACILITIES – Tenders will be issued for the construction of a seawater desalination station in the southern city of Sfax for £300 million. A budget has been allocated for the project and tenders have been issued for the appointment of a consultancy company to assist the water authority to execute the project.

OPPORTUNITIES IN OTHER SECTORS – Energy, ICT, Agribusiness, Financial Services, Healthcare and Education, where there is major interest locally in improving and expanding these sectors.

BACKGROUND
Tunisia’s government is keen to enable overseas investment in-country and has proposed a series of reforms to try to enable this. Articles such as an emergency economic law are aimed at ensuring that major projects can be launched and seen through to completion. The current Head of Government announced key projects at the November 2017 Investment Forum, along with timescales for launching them.

BEI and ABCC Members: No charge
Non-members: £50 + VAT

Details may be found here.

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