European bank ready to further support Tunisia

The Vice-President and member of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Román Escolano has expressed the European Union’s readiness to further support and cooperate with Tunisia.

“Areas of cooperation between Tunisia and the EU are mainly focused in the field of private investments with social impact, such as health, education and environment,” he told the Anadolu Agency yesterday.

“We have received with interest the statement made by the Tunisian Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation, Yassin Ibrahim, and a number of Tunisian officials on the issue of increasing EU support for Tunisia.”

Last week, Ibrahim asked “the European Union to increase its financial and material support for the democratic transition in Tunisia.”

The Tunisian minister told reporters that “increasing the EU support for Tunisia to €200 or €300 million is possible if we consider what the bloc does for Ukraine or the refugee issue.”

Escolano added: “We look forward to exploring more ambitious areas in Tunisia like supporting the country’s technology, agriculture, industry and banking sectors.”

The EU has supported Tunisia in various sectors such as health, education and agriculture with nearly €6 billion during the past 40 years, he explained.