São Paulo – Foreign investment decreased by 33.7% in Tunisia in the first two months of the year over the same period in 2013. According to information released by the African news agency Panapress, 192.4 million Tunisian dinars (US$ 121.2 million) entered the country as foreign investment in January and February. In the first two months of 2013 it was a total of 290.4 million Tunisian dinars (US$ 183 million).
The information is based on the survey conducted by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (Fipa) and showed that from the total which entered the Arab country in the first two months, 181.8 million of Tunisian dinars (US$ 114.6 million) consisted of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and 10.6 million Tunisian dinars (US$ 6.6 million) consisted of different forms.
In January and February last year, direct investment was at 275 million Tunisian dinars (US$ 173 million) and other forms of investment at 15.4 million Tunisian dinars (US$ 9.7 million). This means that the drop in the beginning of the year was mostly due to the decrease in foreign direct investment, which is investment made in the productive sectors of the country.
According to the article by Panapress, the service sector had a significant decrease, of 92.3% in the first two months of 2014 compared to January and February 2013, while other areas, such as the energy and industry segments are on an upward trend and had higher investment in the first two months of this year over the same period last year.
Tunisia had a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 48 billion last year. The services are responsible for 61% of the economy, as the region has a strong tourism sector. Industry is responsible for 30.4% of the GDP and agriculture for 8.6%. Goods produced in the region include petroleum, fertilisers, olives, olive oil, and textiles. Europe is a major trade partner with Tunisia.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
