(Finance) – Implementation of the Mattei Plan for Africa, cooperation on migration and the Rome process, energy and economic cooperation. For the fourth time in less than a year the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni returns to Tunis tomorrow to continue the dialogue with the Tunisian president Kais Saied on the main areas of bilateral cooperation. On the occasion of the visit, the first under the Mattei Plan, – as far as we know – they will be three instruments signed within the Mattei Plan: an Agreement on direct support for the Tunisian state budget to support energy efficiency and renewable energy; a credit line for small and medium-sized Tunisian businesses; a Memorandum of Understanding between the Italian Minister of University and Research and the counterpart Tunisian Ministry which will provide the framework for cooperation in this area between the two Nations. The Minister of the Interior was also present in Tunis Matteo Piantedosi, the Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini and the deputy foreign minister Edmondo Cirielli.
On the migrant front – Italian sources underline – it remains essential that the Tunisian authorities continue their action fight against smuggling and trafficking of human beings and of containment of irregular departures.
Italy is also committed to ensuring the legal mobility for work reasons: on 20 October 2023 a Memorandum was signed between Italy and Tunisia in this area, the first in the nation.
The Italy-Tunisia partnership also fully affects theeconomic sphere. Italy is, in fact, permanently the first supplier and the second outlet market and there are around 900 Italian companies active in the country. An ongoing strategic project is that for the ELMED submarine electric cable, the first to connect the electricity grids of Africa and Europe, paving the way for further future investments in the field of renewable energy.