Tunisia’s FM hold talks with British counterpart in London

Tunisia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Khamis al-Jhinaoui, and his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, held talks in London on Monday. The ministers discussed Tunisian-British relations and ways to improve them in all areas, in addition to regional and international issues of common interest, including the situation in Libya.

Al-Jhinaoui insisted during the meeting on the qualitative shift in relations between Tunisia and the United Kingdom in recent years, especially at the political and security levels, according to a communiqué from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He called for an increase in the volume of British investments in Tunisia in order to benefit from the incentives provided by the new investment opportunities for foreign businesses. Minister Al-Jhinaoui also called on the UK government to honour its pledges to support the Tunisian economy.

Addressing the Libyan issue, the minister highlighted the importance of finding a comprehensive settlement to the crisis in the neighbouring country according to the road map announced by the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Ghassan Salama.

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On his part, the British Foreign Secretary praised the success of the democratic transition in Tunisia, reiterating his country’s commitment to stand by Tunisia and its keenness to raise the volume of bi-lateral trade and investment. He stressed also the need to exploit all the opportunities available in this field.

The Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs also held talks with British Home Secretary Amber Rudd during which he praised the excellent level of Tunisian-British cooperation in the security field, especially after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries in December 2006.

He reiterated Tunisia’s welcoming of the British decision to partially lift its travel ban to Tunisia and called for the withdrawal of this measure completely to include the rest of the country.