São Paulo – Brazil and Tunisia have entered into an agreement to implement the project Developing and Valuing of Eucalyptus Plantations in Tunisia. The deal provides for Brazilian technicians to aid Tunisian teams in growing the trees in the Arab country. It was signed last week in Brasília by Sabri Bachtobji, the ambassador of Tunisia in Brazil, and Fernando José Marroni de Abreu, director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), a branch of Brazil’s Ministry of External Relations.
“In Tunisia, since the 50s, we have made great efforts to plant forests in order to supply wood, generate power, curb desertification and prevent the dunes from advancing,” Bachtobji told ANBA over the telephone.
According to the diplomat, within this context, the eucalyptus has played a key role in Tunisia, because it adapts easily to different climates and can be used for myriad purposes.
The agreement sets forth that technicians from Embrapa Florestas, the forest division of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, will transfer technology to Tunisian techs. The ambassador said this agreement was under discussion for a few years now, and Embrapa technicians have already paid visits to his country.
The next phase of the deal will take place in April this year, as a technical mission from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency and Embrapa Florestas will travel to Tunis to undergo short-term training on growing eucalyptus. The technicians are from the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fishing. Tunisian technicians are also scheduled to travel to Curitiba, in Brazil’s Paraná state, to pay a visit to the Embrapa Florestas headquarters.
The terms of the deal also set forth that cooperation with Tunisia is intended to boost wood productivity and quality in the Arab country, genetically improve the species grown in Tunisia, and use improvement techniques such as hybridization of promising species, followed by vegetative propagation of the best breeds.
Other deals
In his interview, Bachtobji also said Tunisia is working on further agreements with Brazil, for tourism, education, science and technology and air transport.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum