Summary:

On 15 May 2024, the Institut Arabe des Chefs d’Enterprises (IACE) released a report highlighting the importance of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as means of emerging from economic instability. 

The report highlights Tunisia’s relatively low position amongst Arab states in attracting FDI and links low levels of investment to struggles to effectively attract FDI over time. 

The report recommends coordinated strategic efforts to brand Tunisia’s investment environment in a way that will attract and retain investors while also engaging in targeted communication with potential investors that highlights the advantages of investing in Tunisia. 

IACE describes itself as an economic think tank striving to broaden the debate on public policies that promote the growth of the private sector. 

Outlook: 

Tunisia’s ability to attract and retain foreign investments will play a central role in its economic future.  

Despite various efforts to streamline the bureaucratic process involved in facilitating FDI, foreign investors continue to face an array of bureaucratic challenges to investing. Lack of coherent bureaucratic processes are compounded by issues with localized corruption, administrative inefficiency, and growing skepticism toward foreign influences of all kinds. 

At present, Tunisia is able to welcome a very narrow scope of projects from foreign investors, with established processes for a select set of industries and investment types. The ability to embrace a more varied field of project types and the disruption that comes with them will be an essential evolution for Tunisia’s policymakers going forward. 

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