(TAP) - Minister of Trade and Export Development, Kalthoum Ben Rejeb, on Monday, met a high-level delegation from the General Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), on a working visit to Tunisia from August 14 to 18. The meeting is part of the implementation of the secretariat's project on land-based trade corridors in North Africa, according to a press release issued by the ministry. Adopted by the AfCFTA general secretariat at the 25th ordinary session of the African Union Council in February 2022, the Corridor approach is an economic programme aimed at interconnecting the border areas between the various member countries. The aim is to facilitate trade between them. To date, five corridors have been created in different regions of the continent. On this occasion, the Minister underlined the importance of this project in strengthening trade with sub-Saharan African countries, recalling in this respect her ministerial meeting with her Libyan counterpart held on August 10, which led to the decision to create a Tunisian-Libyan trade corridor towards sub-Saharan countries. The Ministry said a working session chaired by the Director General of Economic and Commercial Cooperation, Lazhar Bennour, and the Head of Customs at the AfCFTA Secretariat, Demitta Chinwude Gyang, was held in the presence of the various stakeholders. During the meeting, participants stressed the importance of this project in developing trade, particularly with countries that are inaccessible by sea, including Chad, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. As part of this visit, the high-level delegation from the General Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area is due to visit several sites, including the commercial port of Rades, the free trade zone of Zarzis and certain border areas including Ras Jedir and Hezoua.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse