Message of Mr. Adel ELARBI
Ambassador of Tunisia
To consolidate the successful political transition by a sustained economic and social transition
It is a matter of pride and great honor to address the brotherly people of Pakistan on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Tunisia.
The commemoration of this important event for all Tunisians provides the opportunity to celebrate with immense enthusiasm and joy enriched with a sense of patriotism and faith in our country as well as to reflect upon the outstanding achievements made by Tunisian people over the past 6 years.
Every year, March 20th is an auspicious day for all Tunisians to solemnly pay tribute and respect to all Tunisian people who sacrificed their lives to gain freedom for our country. We should also remember our martyrs who lost their lives for a free Tunisia. On this day, we shall as well salute all our national heroes and leaders who guided us from confinement to freedom and contributed to build institutions of a modern state. The role of education, civil society and women emancipation in this process was crucial and more than significant.
Tunisia has also witnessed in its recent history a very important event which was the revolution of 17th December 2010 and 14th January 2011. From that time many events have happened since the political transition in Tunisia was marked by strong social demands, a fact that has imposed political nature of priorities, leaving the pressing economic problems at the background.
However, Tunisians have successfully institutionalized their revolution by electing a new Parliament which appointed a new Government, a new President of the Republic and charted a new constitution. The coronation of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet with the prestigious 2015 Nobel Peace Prize came at a pivotal moment for the emerging Tunisian democracy to steer Tunisia away from the path of conflict towards the path to political compromise and assure a smooth transition from an authoritarian to a democratic state.
We are, furthermore, aware of the obstacles and challenges that remain to realize in terms of eradicating extremism, implementing the adequate economic policies that will to tackle the problems of poverty, unemployment, regional disparities, establishing reforms that create a climate conducive to private initiative and business and stimulating growth through trade diversification and access to new markets.
The challenge now for the Tunisian current government is to consolidate that successful political transition by a sustained economic recovery, inclusive and job creation, able to reduce regional disparities and strengthen national solidarity. In this regard, my government is adopting a number of new legal measures to assure more transparency to eradicate corruption, better the investment environment and attract more foreign investors, a new very progressive code for investments more simple and more clear, fiscal reforms, modernization of administration. These economic reforms will facilitate more private-sector growth and competition.
With regard to the bilateral relation between Tunisia and Pakistan, I must assure that my country attaches great interest to foster the bonds of friendship and cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, we are ready to offer more productive partnership especially in the economic field and set up a relation of win to win beneficial for both two countries. In this context, my role as Ambassador of Tunisia is to make Pakistan as a priority for Tunisian investors so they can come here and witness what this huge brotherly country, with almost 200 million of consumers offers in terms of opportunities. In the same time, many Pakistanis do not know enough about Tunisia. We should focus on this issue, to enhance the volume of our bilateral trade and more importantly to diversify the basket of goods that could be traded besides the promotion of the investment and joint ventures. Businessman from both countries should be more aggressive and travel between both countries to explore opportunities on the ground and to meet directly their partner in Tunisia or in Pakistan.
Long live Tunisian Pakistani brotherhood
Tunisia- Pakistan Zindabad
