By Houda Mzioudet.
Tunis, 24 November 2015:
Markets dedicated purely to . . .[restrict]Tunisian produce are to set up in Benghazi, Zintan and Khoms according to the Supreme Council of Tunisians and Libyan Businessmen.
The project was announced at the launch yesterday of the Tunisian-Libyan business association in Tunis.
According to Said Fuad Al-Awam, vice-president of Benghazi Business Council, the market in his city will in the Sidi Khalifa area. Covering 47,600 square metres and to be known as the Tunisian Market, it will have space for 96 outlets as well as a bank, restaurants and a mosque.
The aim, he said, is to strenghthening the presence of Tunisian products in Libya. These, he explained, had suffered a severe slump since the Libyan revolution.
Al Awam called on Tunisian businessmen to seize this opportunity to return to the Libyan market and that with soaring prices as a result of inflation in Libya, Libyan consumers would react positively to the new competition provided by the Tunisians.
With regard to security situation in Libya and the potential problems of transporting Tunisian goods to Benghazi, Al Awam said that they could moved by sea.
The Benghazi project, which is being backed by the Libyan ministries of justice, of finance and of development, investment and international Cooperation as well as the Tunisian interior ministry, is expected to be complete in five months’ time. It was already 25-percent complete, he said.
In addition to Libyan and Tunisian businessmen, yesterday’s joint gathering was also attended by representatives from the Libyan Central Bank and Tunisian banks. [/restrict]