Tunisia, Libya agree on joint projects

In what some view as an important step towards Maghreb unity, Tunisia and Libya reached an agreement to lift restrictions on movement of travelers and goods.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis - 07/11/10

Tunisian traders and families traveling to Libya may now breathe a sigh of relief as the two countries agreed October 30th to remove all administrative and financial obstacles that hinder the movement of goods and people.

The Tunisian-Libyan High Joint Executive Committee session headed by Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi and his visiting Libyan counterpart, Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, also discussed the creation of a free economic zone between Ben Guerdane in Tunisia and Libya's Ras-Jedir border development area.

"This agreement came to restore the Libyan-Tunisian relations to their original condition, given that the two countries were, and still are, two inseparable outlets for each other. Each time either country suffers a crisis, the other country would be at the forefront to provide help. This agreement will also enable the southern Tunisia area to have broader opportunities for investments and to improve the purchasing power of a whole region," political analyst Ghassen Kesibi said.

The committee also decided during their 2-day meeting to create a company to supervise Libyan investment projects in Tunisia, the largest of which is a refinery in Skhira.

The two countries agreed to double the volume of investments to reach $2 billion and hold a meeting next month to discuss investment projects in greater detail.

Some travelers have already noticed that the situation looks better along the Tunisia-Libya border.

"The treatment of Libyan customs authorities was smooth, and the searches lasted for only a few minutes," said Tunisian Moufida Idoudi, who visited Libya with her parents to shop for her wedding.

"It is different now," Tunisian trader Salem Kaouache agreed. "I didn't pay 150 dinars that we were used to in the past. The way they received and searched us also differed, although the long lines at the border checkpoint of Ras-Jedir are still the same. However, the removal of tax on trucks and vehicles has compensated small traders like me for the suffering of waiting."

Last summer, protests and clashes broke out at the border area in Ras-Jedir following the measures taken by the Libyan authorities on the movement of travelers, which border area residents deemed as unjust.

The Libyan authorities required that each traveler pay 1374 Tunisian dinars or 1219 Libyan dinars to enter Libyan soil.

"Although the Tunisian-Libyan committee took historical measures that are considered strategic, as they represent a real breakthrough in the relations between the two countries, the greater attention was paid to the removal of restrictions on the movement of goods and people between the two countries and to making it without any obstacles or payment of charges," Fateh el Kefi, a specialist in Tunisian-Libyan affairs, told Magharebia.

"That attention can be understood because it concerns thousands of people who live on income from trade between Tunisia and Libya. In addition, many Tunisian families benefit from the imported Libyan goods that they purchase for very competitive prices," he added.

"The agreement is very positive because it confirms the nature of distinguished relations between Tunisia and Libya, and the keenness of the two countries to promote bilateral relations even further," Al-Watan editor Noureddine Moubarki told Magharebia.

Moubarki added, however, that movement of travelers and trade across the Tunisian-Libyan border requires real solutions.

"What took place a few months ago in the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdane is a proof of that," he said.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/11/07/feature-01.