São Paulo – At age 57, Mohamed Mestiri became ambassador for the first time. Since October, he has been heading the Tunisian diplomatic representation in Brasília. On Tuesday (13), he spoke to ANBA, during a visit to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in São Paulo, spoke about the political situation in his country and also about the work to increase trade and cultural relations between Tunisia and Brazil.
Before being inaugurated in the post in the Brazilian capital, Mestiri spent six years in the economic area of the embassy of Tunisia in Washington, and then returned to his country and occupied the posts of head of the Cooperation Division at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), deputy director of Cooperation with Financial Organisations and plenipotentiary minister at the Foreign Ministry.
Speaking calmly, he said that it is not possible to forecast what will happen in the Arab world after the revolutions in the region, but shows hope regarding the route his country is taking. “The change we will have in Tunisia will be the greatest in the Arab world, as we are rewriting our constitution,” he said. “We elected an assembly that is already developing this work,” he said. He pointed out that Tunisia is a peaceful country and that, despite the undesirable deaths, the Tunisian revolution caused fewer victims than those of neighbouring nations.
Mestiri finds it important for Tunisia to learn lessons with other countries that also lived dictatorial periods, like Brazil. “Brazil also had dictators, and not so long ago. We may learn with the experience of Brazil and of other countries in Latin America. Democracy is also new to these nations and they may show us the mistakes they made so that we may avoid them.” Regarding his expectations for this new phase of his country, he is cautious. “We are going to try to find solutions to the problems Tunisia has been living, like unemployment among youths, for example.”
Regarding the economic area, he points out that some 80% of the trade relations of his country are with Europe, which makes it more vulnerable to the crises of that continent. Thus, Mestiri aims to work to increase trade exchange with Brazil. “Today, most of our trade with Brazil is based on agricultural products, mining and basic products, despite both the Tunisian and Brazilian economies being more industrialized. We want to develop trade of higher value added products,” he said.
Since Monday (12), Mestiri has been meeting representatives of Brazilian companies with whom he has been discussing import interest. “I want to see what opportunities we have to place products in Brazil. There is space for products in Brazil. There is space for olive oil, dates and dried fruit, but Tunisia also has other products. We want to develop trade with items like electric and electronic products, auto parts, etc.,” he said.
Another aspect considered important by the ambassador with regard to Brazil and Tunisia is exchange between students. “This is one of the ways of bringing both peoples closer together. Youths understand the mentality of their people. If a youth from Tunisia spends some time here, he takes homes the expectations of Brazil with regard to our country. I think it is a good route for expansion of trade relations between both countries,” he finished off.
For over two decades, Tunisia was governed by dictator Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, ousted early this year amidst protests that triggered the Arab Spring. Last month, the country elected members of the assembly to write the new constitution.
With the change of regime, exports from Brazil to Tunisia rose. Shipments generated US$ 370.7 million from January to November, growth of 103% over the same period in 2010, according to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Brazilian imports of Tunisian products, in turn, totalled US$ 98.8 million, a reduction of 19.4% over the period from January to November last year.
*Translated by Mark Ament
